The Minister of Education and President of Ikerbasque Jokin Bildarratz, presided over the award ceremony for three women who carry out their research work in the Basque Country: Jasone Cenoz, Amanda Sierra and Marta Olazabal. The event also included the participation of Fernando Cossío, scientific director of Ikerbasque, as well as the presence of those responsible for the Basque science and innovation system.
This is the fourth edition of the recognitions that the Department of Education of the Basque Government and Ikerbasque award annually and that does not represent so much an award, but rather it is about making women researchers in the Basque Country and their work visible, so that they serve as an example and inspiration to new generations of researchers.
The selection of the recognized researchers has been in charge of an Evaluation Commission, which unanimously agreed which researchers would receive this recognition in 2022 in three different stages of their scientific career: advanced, consolidated and promising. These are the following researchers:
- Advanced, recognition of an entire research career: Jasone Cenoz, professor of the Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education, UPV/EHU.
- Consolidator, recognition of a leading researcher in her field of research: Amanda Sierra, Ikerbasque Research Professor at Achucarro - Basque Center for Neurosciences.
- Starting, recognition of an outstanding contribution by a young researcher: Marta Olazabal, Ikerbasque Research Associate at BC3 - Basque Center for Climate Change.
To select the recognized researchers, Ikerbasque has carried out an analysis of the data on scientific production and of the latest outstanding contributions by female researchers from the Basque Country. The final selection was made by a Delegate Committee of the Ikerbasque Board of Trustees, validated by the Foundation's Scientific Committee. The Evaluation Commission has highlighted the high scientific level of the researchers in the three categories, which reflects, in the words of the commission, the great potential of the science carried out in the Basque Country by women researchers.
Advanced: Jasone Cenoz
- Professor of the Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education, UPV/EHU.
- Doctor from the University of the Basque Country/ Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea with the thesis “Teaching-learning English as a second or third language”.
- Her research focuses on bilingual and multilingual education, the linguistic landscape, the age factor, attitudes and pragmatics in the acquisition of second and third languages.
- The Commission highlights her excellent scientific career in the area of education, her leadership capacity, being a benchmark in her field of research at an international level, her commitment to science in the Basque Country; as well as her participation in national and international scientific networks.
Consolidator: Amanda Sierra
- Ikerbasque Research Professor at Achucarro, Basque Center for Neurosciences.
- Doctor in Neurosciences (UCM).
- She studies the mechanisms of brain regeneration in response to various neurodegenerative diseases, and specifically in the brain's self-cleaning system that allows dead neurons to be eliminated quickly and efficiently.
- The Commission highlights her scientific leadership in neuroscience research, the quality and international impact of her scientific production, as well as her commitment to activities for the dissemination of science in society, and especially her involvement in activities aimed at equality of women in science.
Starting: Marta Olazabal
- She leads the climate change adaptation group at BC3, the Basque Center for Climate Change.
- PhD in Land Economics from the University of Cambridge.
- Her research focuses on adaptation to climate change and urban resilience
- She has obtained an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council.
- The Commission highlights her leadership in her field of research and her recent achievements as a young researcher on a very novel topic, having obtained an ERC Starting Grant that aims to investigate the adaptation of urban areas to climate change.
Annual recognitions
The initiative is part of the Ikerbasque Strategic Plan, which establishes that one of its 12 challenges is to progress in gender equality in the incorporation of people in the Ikerbasque research community. In this sense, the Equality Plan prepared by the Basque Foundation for Science includes this action aimed at granting, annually, recognitions to women researchers.
In previous editions, Ikerbasque and the Department of Education have recognized the following researchers:
- Advanced:
- Maria Isabel Arriortua
- Helena Matute
- Miren Cajaraville
- Consolidator:
- Aitziber López-Cortajarena
- Clara Martín
- Malu Martínez-Chantar
- Starting:
- Maia García Vergniory
- Matxus Perugorria
- Paola Ferrario
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