On 24 April, the Executive Council of the Government of Catalonia approved the 2023 Narcís Monturiol Awards, which include a Medal and a Plaque, in recognition of outstanding scientific contributions on the part of people and entities within the Catalan knowledge system.

The Narcís Monturiol Medal for scientific and technological merit was awarded to ten researchers (six men and four women), of whom two are from UPF: Àngel Lozano (Department of Information and Communication Technologies) and Marta Reynal-Querol (Department of Economy and Business).

Àngel Lozano Solsona, holder of a PhD from Stanford University (USA), is a full professor in the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC) at UPF, where he heads the Wireless & Secure Communications Research Group (WiSeCom) and holds the Fractus-UPF Business Chair on 6G networks. According to the Catalan Government, his research has made a significant contribution to the theoretical foundations of the 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi communication systems. Within the framework of the Fractus-UPF Chair, he is currently investigating ways to improve wireless communications with intelligent surfaces, as well as the creation of networks of intelligent drones to control fires.

Marta Reynal-Querol, holder of an undergraduate degree in Economic Sciences from UPF and a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics (United Kingdom), is an ICREA research professor from the Department of Economy and Business at UPF, a research professor at the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE) and director of the Institute for Political Economy and Governance (IPEG). This distinction recognises her research into the determinants of armed conflict, political economy and economic development on the basis of historical experiences and big data. In 2022, she was awarded a €2.5 million Advanced Grant from the European Research Council for the project “ORIG_STATE: Colonization, Early Institutions and the Origin of State Capacity and Democratization”.

In addition to Àngel Lozano and Marta Reynal Querol, the eight other Narcís Monturiol Medal recipients are Jordi Alberch Vié, Anna Alberni Jordà, Joan Grimalt i Obrador, Emilio Palomares Gil, Ana Isabel Pérez Neira, Petia Radeva, Gustavo A. Slafer and Antonio Villaverde Corrales. As for the Narcís Monturiol Plaque, this year’s award acknowledged the efforts of the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia (MAC).

The Government of Catalonia has been bestowing these awards since 1982 in effort to distinguish individuals and entities that have, through their merits, made significant contributions to the development of science and technology in Catalonia. The award ceremony will take place in the coming weeks.