On 4 June, the “Present your thesis in 4 minutes” competition was held. The winner of the first prize was Artem Komissarov, a Ukraine doctoral student at UPF with the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), endowed with 3,000 euros. The final of this competition, organized by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRi) and the twelve Catalan universities, with the support of the Catalan Government's Interuniversity Council of Catalonia, put the twelve doctoral students who, out of 94 candidates, had won the previous knock-out rounds held by each university, face to face.

In his presentation, “Biochemistry: from destroying to creating”, Artem Komissarov explained how neurons carry information over long distances. The prize-winner commented: “It's a big surprise and I am very happy; it has been a great honour to participate in this competition. It highlights the importance not only of doing excellent research, but also of communicating to the public, and I am very grateful to UPF and the CRG for training me as a professional, to the FCRi and to the organizers of this event”.

The second prize, worth 2,000 euros, went to Reyes Carballar, of the International University of Catalonia (UIC), for her presentation “La importancia de conservar nuestra identidad” (The importance of preserving our identity). And the award granted by the audience, worth 1,000 euros, went to Rubi Alejandra Medina Mijangos, of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), for her presentation entitled “Metodología para el análisis técnico-económico de los sistemas de gestión de residuos sólidos” (Methodology for the technical and economic analysis of solid waste management systems).

The Espai Endesa hosted the final, which involved such broad thesis issues as microplastics and organic pollutants in the ocean; Neanderthal paleoecology, the supposed end of AIDS; the relationship between cancer and the environment; virtual and augmented reality for online training platforms, and protecting the health of health transport professionals. A total of five theses were presented in Catalan, four in Spanish, and three in English.

The competition took place in two stages: the first consisted of a preliminary round at each university, and the second, the final yesterday, in which one contestant competed per university, i.e., the previous winner of each of the heats.

The jury was made up Lluís Baulenas, general secretary of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia; Pau Turón, director of R&D, Regulatory Affairs and Quality at B. Braun Surgical, SA; Núria Montserrat, group leading researcher at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC); Cristina Sáez, science journalist and coordinator of the Big Vang channel at La Vanguardia, and Eva Blanco, Public Affairs Manager at HP.