Recognize 20 personalities in scientific research and artistic creation who have made particularly significant advances.
The ceremony of the XVII edition of the Fronteras del Conocimiento Awards held this afternoon at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao celebrated the universal value of scientific truth, rationality, and culture, in the face of the great challenges and expectations of today’s global society.
This was highlighted by the president of the BBVA Foundation, Carlos Torres Vila, during the event that honored 20 global pioneers at the forefront of scientific research and artistic creation.
Among the awardees are researchers who have made a pharmacological revolution against diabetes and obesity possible; promoters of a more efficient and sustainable green chemistry; creators of transformative technologies such as biometrics and generative artificial intelligence; and the ecologist who has shown the impact of climate change on the geographical displacement of species worldwide.
Contributions have also been recognized to understand the key role of attitudes in understanding human behavior in numerous areas in public and private spheres; fundamental models to understand and guide the economy in times of crisis; philosophical analysis of central issues in science and technology, democracy, and social life.
AWARDEES
The awardees of the XVII Fronteras Awards are: Avelino Corma, John F. Hartwig, and Helmut Schwarz in Basic Sciences; Daniel Joshua Drucker, Joel Habener, Jens Juul Holst, and Svetlana Mojsov in Biology and Biomedicine; Anil Jain and Michael I. Jordan in Information and Communication Technologies; Camille Parmesan in Climate Change and Environmental Sciences; Olivier Blanchard, Jordi Galí, and Michael Woodford in Economics, Finance, and Business Management; Philip Kitcher in Humanities; Icek Ajzen, Dolores Albarracín, Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald, and Richard E. Petty in Social Sciences; and the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa in Music and Opera.
«This ceremony represents an exceptional opportunity to value what truly unites and enriches us as a species: the ability to generate new knowledge to interpret the physical, biological, and social reality, providing innovative conceptual perspectives based on evidence and projecting rational and sustainable solutions to the great challenges and expectations of our time,» said Torres Vila.
In an international context of high complexity and uncertainty like the current one, Torres Vila pointed out that the contributions of «highly innovative individuals» like those awarded by the Fronteras del Conocimiento Awards «allow us to chart, from scientific rationality and artistic creativity, a roadmap to make the best decisions at the individual and collective levels, serving the general interests and the conservation of the diversity of life on Earth.»
The ceremony, presided over by the president of the BBVA Foundation and the president of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Eloísa del Pino, featured an opening speech by the mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, and was closed by the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales.
The president of CSIC highlighted the common aspiration shared by all the awardees this year: not only to «understand with greater depth the behavior of the social and natural world, its causes and consequences,» but also to «identify possible paths to transform that behavior when it deviates from the desirable.»
The 20 awardees, she concluded, «show us that it is possible to reconcile the ideal of pure knowledge with the responsibility to contribute to the common good.»
LEHENDAKARI
For his part, the Lehendakari urged to deepen the commitment to the creation of knowledge and culture to place Euskadi at the forefront in order to face the challenges that condition its future. He also called for defending, «more strongly than ever,» the role of science and critical thinking, «not only as a driver of competitiveness» and quality of life, but also as «a pillar of coexistence and democracy,» in the face of «populism, denialism, and anti-scientific movements.»
The head of the Basque government stated that «the moment we are living demands that we defend, more strongly than ever, the role of science and critical thinking; not only as a driver of competitiveness, social cohesion, and quality of life, but as a pillar of coexistence and democracy.»
As he warned, «populism, denialism, and anti-scientific movements are intimately linked,» and promote «a way of acting in which the important thing is not to learn and discover the truth, but to reaffirm one’s own stances.»
«Information bubbles, fake news, or conspiracy theories are at the same time symptoms and causes of this evil. A society that sabotages science and cultural creation sabotages itself because knowledge and culture make us freer, and because the creation of advanced knowledge is a pillar and competitive advantage of advanced societies,» he claimed.
R&D&I
In this sense, he emphasized that in Euskadi there is «an R&D&I ecosystem resulting from sustained effort over decades,» which allows us to «face the transitions» in which it is immersed: digital, ecological, and demographic.
Therefore, he urged to deepen the commitment to the creation of knowledge and culture. «Because we have the desire, the ambition, and the need to place Euskadi at the forefront, taking into account our size but without complexes. We will face the challenges that will shape the future with enthusiasm, as you have done, the awardees today,» he concluded. A diverse representation of the international juries of the eight categories of the awards, coming from some of the leading universities in Europe and North America, also participated in the ceremony. Among the more than 1,200 attendees were prominent researchers, artists, university professors, authorities in scientific policy, scientific societies, as well as executives from the business world and prominent representatives of the media.
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