The Catalan section of the Spanish Royal Chemical Society (RSEQ) has granted one of the 2020 ‘Josep Castells’ awards to Dr. Jesús San José Orduna for his thesis entitled “Trapping Elusive Cp*CoIII Metallacycles: Implications in C–H Functionalization Processes.”

Dr. San José Orduna did his PhD in the Pérez-Temprano group and is now working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Martin group. “Receiving the Josep Castells award is a tremendous recognition to the hard work I carried out under the supervision of Mónica,” he says, “without her unconditional support and without the colleagues I was lucky to share the lab with, I am sure I wouldn’t be receiving this award.”

The Josep Castells award recognizes the two best PhD theses of the Catalan section of the RSEQ, the other half of the award has been for Albert Cabré from Institut Recerca Biomèdica (IRB). Both awardees will receive a 500€ prize and a diploma.

Over the years, several ICIQers have received the Josep Castells award. In 2017 both awards went to former ICIQ PhD students Ruth Dorel and Ignacio Funes, while Santiago Cañellas received the award in 2018. In 2019 both awards also went to former ICIQ PhD students Cristina García Morales and José Enrique Gómez.