BASF and ICIQ renew their commitment and create an award for entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation

ICIQ and BASF have renewed their collaboration agreement until 2023. The director of the institute, Prof. Emilio Palomares; and the, general manager of BASF Spain, Carles Navarro, have been in charge of initiating this new period of collaboration.

From right to left: Alvaro Gordillo, BASF Sales Manager, Xavier Ribera, BASF Head of communications, Laia Pellejà, ICIQ Manager, Lorena Tomás, ICIQ Projects director, Carles Navarro, BASF Spain director, Ezequiel Soldevila, ICIQ Financial director and Emilio Palomares, ICIQ director.

The main novelty of the agreement is the creation of the BASF-ICIQ Awards for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The two organizations aim to reward the best research in the field of innovation and sustainable development. The awards will be funded with € 9,000 in prizes and will be divided into three categories:

• Best doctoral thesis in any applied science that has played a crucial role in solving an industry challenge and/or developing radical innovation.
• Best patent to demonstrate the initiative of inventors to protect intellectual property and lay the foundations for technological innovation that promotes the development of a sustainable future.
• Best entrepreneur, recognition mainly focused on people and start-ups who have opted for the commercialization of their innovations in the field of applied sciences.

The first edition of this contest will open its nomination period this November and projects can be submitted until January 2022. The delivery of the I BASF-ICIQ Awards in Entrepreneurship and Innovation will take place on April 21^st 2022, at ICIQ, coinciding with the World Day of Creativity and Innovation, with the main objective of highlighting the full creative potential of people worldwide.

Seminar programme

In addition to the creation of these new awards, BASF will continue to be the main sponsor of the ICIQ seminar programme, which each year brings together some twenty prestigious national and international researchers working in different areas of chemistry. The Seminar Programme is open to ICIQ staff and the scientific community at large. BASF has been the main sponsor of this programme since 2012 and, during these years, it has received illustrious visits such as those of the Nobel Prize winners B. Feringa, B. List, D. MacMillan, K.B Sharpless, R.R. Schrock, R. Grubbs, and A. Suzuki.