The BBVA Foundation and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) held the 5th edition of the CSIC–BBVA Foundation Awards and Grants for Scientific Communication this past Tuesday at the CSIC headquarters in Madrid. The event highlighted the value of scientific communication, including social sciences and humanities, in disseminating knowledge and addressing current challenges.
Rafael Pardo, director of the BBVA Foundation, emphasized during the ceremony that "scientific communication is not a tangential activity, but rather contributes centrally to creating a more rational civic environment and significantly influences the quality of our values and public institutions." He stressed that an "amputated scientific culture," where social sciences and humanities receive insufficient attention, must be corrected.
For her part, Eloísa del Pino, president of the CSIC, stated that "communicating science is not about adorning or simplifying it. It is about building the bridge that allows knowledge to become civic culture." She added that the awardees represent the conviction that "science is not just a set of results; it is an intellectual and human adventure that deserves to be shared."
In the specialized journalist category, the award was given to Josep Corbella, a science editor for La Vanguardia, for "a long career dedicated to scientific communication and his leadership," consolidating daily science information and promoting innovative formats like the portal Big Vang.
The award in the researcher category recognized Carlos Briones, a scientist at the Center for Astrobiology (CSIC-INTA), for "having managed to convey the mysteries of the Universe and the origin of life in an accessible and attractive tone." Briones, a biochemist and molecular biologist, is the author of books such as ¿Estamos solos? En busca de otras vidas en el cosmos (Are We Alone? In Search of Other Lives in the Cosmos) and A bordo de tu curiosidad (On Board Your Curiosity).
During the ceremony, diplomas for the CSIC-BBVA Foundation Grants for Scientific Communication were also presented to Carmen Gómez-Fayrén de las Heras and Beatriz Vallejo Jurado. These grants allow for stays at CSIC centers to enhance specialization in scientific communication.
Josep Corbella, in his speech, advocated for the essential role of scientific journalism against "irrationalist ideologies" and "citizen passivity," defending the responsibility of communicators to "safeguard the common good" and transmit "a way of reasoning" and "a consensus language."
Carlos Briones emphasized the "necessity" of disseminating science and fostering critical thinking in the face of "scientific and historical denialism, hoaxes, absurd pseudoscience, and lethal pseudotherapies." He defended a "humanistic" vision of science that teaches us to "ask questions, to doubt, to flee from dogmas."
The CSIC-BBVA Foundation Grants for Scientific Communication, each endowed with 35,000 euros, will allow Carmen Gómez-Fayrén and Beatriz Vallejo Jurado to undertake training itineraries at various CSIC centers to bring research closer to society and better understand the impact of the exposome on health.
