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Sciences

Today

24 Jan 2024

Ulrich Hartl, Arthur Horwich, Kazutoshi Mori and Peter Walter receive the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine for having successfully identified the cellular machinery that drives protein folding, an key process enabling them to fulfill their biological function. Their research, which disproved the findings of Nobel laureate Christian Anfinsen, has opened the door to the development of new experimental treatments for cancer and certain neurodegenerative diseases.

10 Jan 2024

22 Feb 2023

11 Oct 2021

The Nobel Prizes 2023 have honored the work of five researchers who were previously distinguished by the BBVA Foundation with its Frontiers of Knowledge Awards. The judging committee of these prizes —awarded by the BBVA Foundation for the past 15 years— has shown an ability to get ahead of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, thereby making the Frontiers of Knowledge awards a reliable herald of international scientific excellence. On no fewer than 26 occasions, winners of the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards have gone on to win a Nobel Prize a few years or even just months later.

25 Feb 2021

The BBVA Foundation has awarded the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category to Paul Alivisatos and Michael Grätzel for their fundamental contributions to the development of new nanomaterials that are already being applied both in solar energy production and in next-generation electronics. The work of both winners opens the door to new avenues for the production of renewable energies, electronic devices, biomedical imaging techniques, and other applications.

28 Jan 2021

The BBVA Foundation has recognized researchers David Julius and Arden Parapoutian with its the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine for their work to discover the receptors that mediate the touch sensations of temperature and pressure. A groundbreaking study that opened up new therapeutic avenues to reduce acute and chronic pain associated with trauma and a range of diseases.

22 Jan 2021

Vicente Larraga, research professor at the Vaccines and Gene Expression Unit of CSIC Biological Research Center, participated in a videoconference for BBVA employees, where he answered their questions about current vaccines against COVID-19. Larraga is a doctor and honorary professor of research at the Margarita Salas Biological Research Center and has been a member of the jury for the BBVA Foundation's Frontiers of Knowledge awards.

02 Oct 2020

20 Apr 2020

The mathematical community has committed all its resources to support the fight against COVID-19. Specifically, the Spanish Mathematics Committee (CEMat) has launched Mathematical Action against Coronavirus, an initiative geared towards putting the Committee’s analysis and modeling capabilities at the service of authorities to help them better understand the problem and design possible solutions. David Gómez-Ullate and Justo Puerto, both recipients of several BBVA Foundation grants and scholarships, are two of the mathematicians who are contributing to the project.

16 Apr 2020

The BBVA Foundation has awarded Susan Fiske and Shelley Taylor the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the category of Social Sciences for her pioneering insights, which have elucidated the role of cognitive shortcuts in shaping social interactions. The American social psychologists, two of the most influential working today, have been instrumental for understanding how these shortcuts in mental processing intervene in the formation of value judgments about other people or social situations.

08 Apr 2020

The anti-malaria medication has made headlines in recent weeks as a potential solution against coronavirus. How accurate are these news reports? "Hydroxychloroquine does have properties that could turn it into a new asset," says Elena Gómez-Díaz, a researcher at the Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine ‘López-Neyra’ (IPBLN-CSIC) and recipient of a BBVA Foundation Leonardo Grant in 2017. The proven efficiency of hydroxychloroquine in malaria treatments could contribute to speeding up the development of a COVID vaccine.

23 Mar 2020

Dr. Antoni Trilla, Head of the Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology Unit at Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, volunteered to hold a videoconference with BBVA’s employees in order to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about coronavirus: Can someone who is asymptomatic transmit the virus? Can it be transmitted through contact with pets? How long will the preventive measures last? Is it dangerous to take ibuprofen if you have coronavirus? When will there be a vaccine? Hospital Clinic of Barcelona has compiled all the information available on COVID-19 and in a project undertaken together with the BBVA Foundation, has made it available in a dedicated portal, PortalCLÍNIC.

12 Mar 2020

03 Mar 2020

05 Nov 2019

18 Jun 2019

This year, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ceremony underscored the need for an increased commitment to sustainability across the globe. “Climate change, the biodiversity crisis and inequality are issues whose future consequences may be much more serious if we fail to act now,” said the President of BBVA Foundation Carlos Torres Vila during his address. The awardees gathered to attend a gala that was held for the first time this year in the city of Bilbao.

28 Mar 2019

BBVA and Jordi Roca, pastry chef at El Celler de Can Roca, have together launched the project ‘El sentido del cacao’ (The Sense of Cocoa), an initiative that aims to raise awareness of the series of conditions affecting the sense of taste and which affect up to 17% of the world's population. This project comes in light of a pioneering investigation based on neuroscience and sensorial management supported by, among other institutions, the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid and IOB Institute of Oncology.

05 Mar 2019

The BBVA Foundation presented physicists Charles Kane and Eugene Mele the Frontiers of Knowledge Award  in the Basic Sciences category for discovering materials that act as both insulators and conductors at the same time. The so-called topological insulators are a new kind of material with extraordinary electronic properties that will open new scientific avenues. They could serve to develop faster, more efficient electronic devices and even advance the advent of quantum computers.

20 Feb 2019

BBVA and OpenMind, in collaboration with Professor Rafael Yuste, held a conference in Brussels to discuss the potential legal implications stemming from the rapid development of Neurotechnology and Artificial Intelligence. Under the title “Do we need new human rights?” scientists, politicians and regulatory authorities described the current situation and pointed to problems that need to be addressed, offering possible solutions to an issue that is not without controversy.

06 Feb 2019

Gretchen Daily and Georgina Mace have been recognized with the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the category of Ecology and Conservation Biology for their visionary work combating the loss of species. They have developed tools that are invaluable for quantifying "nature’s value" thus facilitating science-based policies in support of the conservation of species. The jury panel commended not only their efforts in identifying the problem, but also their involvement in finding solutions.

29 Jan 2019

09 Jan 2019

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category has gone in this eleventh edition to Anny Cazenave (France), John Church (Australia) and Jonathan Gregory (UK), for their research into the response of sea level to climate change. Narrowing down the causes, integrating satellite observations and innovations applied in numerical modeling have contributed to discovering that the pace at which this rise is taking place is increasing.

13 Dec 2018

The BBVA Foundation and the Spanish Royal Society of Physics presented their annual awards to promote scientific culture and recognize high quality research, innovation and the work of young physicists. During the ceremony, BBVA Foundation President Francisco González indicated that: “Physics is a science with an ability like none other to shape our vision of the world while transforming our environment through radical technological innovation.” Furthermore, the President of the BBVA Foundation was named a distinguished member of the scientific organization for “his genuine interest in fomenting science in general and physics in particular.”

14 Nov 2018

After five years of existence, the Leonardo Grants have become a distinguished hallmark in Spain’s research and cultural communities with more than 300 grants awarded, totaling €10.5 million. For the first time, the BBVA Foundation has brought together many of its grant-winning researchers and cultural creators to announce Red Leonardo, an initiative to provide continuity and follow-up to the projects that were made possible by the BBVA grants. The grant program was created to give a boost to a community that had previously not been adequately addressed. Francisco González, president of the BBVA Foundation stressed the importance of innovation in science and culture as “the most powerful tool for addressing the substantial challenges of our time, on both an individual and community level.”

08 Oct 2018

The Royal Swedish Academy of Science has awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2018 to U.S. Scientists William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer in Economic Sciences. Nordhaus, who earlier this year won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change, has developed the first model capable of integrating economic and environmental data to identify the most efficient policies against global warming. Romer has pioneered the use of technology in macroeconomic research.

10 Jul 2018

06 Jun 2018

Anthropological theories about the transformation of our species have multiplied since Darwin first began positing new ideas about the origin of mankind with his theory of evolution. To become the 'Homo sapiens' of today, human beings have had to undergo a process of change that has occurred over millions of years and has resulted in physical, cultural, and linguistic variations.

22 Mar 2018

The year the world says good bye to Stephen Hawking, one of the foremost authorities on black holes, might also be the year that one these massive cosmic voids is seen for the first time. Eight radio telescopes around the world have been linked up to take the first photograph of the black hole that sits in the center of our galaxy.

05 Jan 2018