Today the ceremony of the XXX CAF-Elhuyar Awards took place, in the space Kutxa Kultur Plaza de Tabakalera (Donostia), under the motto “konta(kta)tu”. Specifically, the prize has a twofold objective: to encourage authors (professionals, science-minded people and scientific players) to contribute their knowledge, research or projects, that is, to encourage them to count them, and to respond to people’s concerns, needs or interests, that is, to connect with society.

The event is organized by Elhuyar, in collaboration with the company CAF and with the sponsorship of NEIKER. In this thirtieth edition 38 papers have been received and the participation has been balanced in terms of gender. Jury members have decided to award in each category the following works:

In the category of disclosure article, the prize was awarded to the Gasteiztarra Ander Tobalina Novo, with an article entitled “Arau berriak, jostailu berriak”. When it comes to rewarding the work, the jury has highlighted that the author has addressed a topic of maximum relevance and that shows that new techniques open new spaces. In addition, they have stressed that although quantum physics itself is difficult to explain, the article is read easily and fluently.

The award in the article category based on the doctoral thesis was for Irundarra Antton Babaze Aizpurua, for his work “Argi ibili kuantikarekin”. In this case, the jury wished to highlight the passion that the author conveys.
The article, in terms of wording, seemed clear and easy to read, and they have highlighted that it has used very attractive examples.

In this category, moreover, the jury wanted to award another work with a special mention. He has also awarded Gasteiztarra Uzuri Albizu Mallea for her work “Matematika, hezkuntza eta generoa gurutzatzen diren lekuak. Ahots feministek lagundutako kartografia bat”. This work has been positively valued for being a magnificent example of interdisciplinarity, for being a well-explained thesis and offering a new perspective of mathematics.

In the category of scientific journalism, the awarded work has been “Silfioaren enigma”. Its author is the security company Enekoitz Telleria Sarriegi, and the jury has considered his success in arousing curiosity about an unknown subject. In fact, he gets out of the usual issues of scientific dissemination, and to get information he has had to do as a detective. In this way, he uses very different sources: science, poetry… In his particular style, he has managed to create a nice piece, according to the members of the jury. The article was published last June in the journal BERRIA.

The NEIKER Award aims to award works in the primary sector and this year the award has been for the Bermeotarra Mikel Ojinaga Juárez, for his work “Birusen aurkako gudari irrabarratsua”. The members of the jury in this category have highlighted the importance of the issue in the sector and that the author has explained very clearly what the problem is and how to deal with it. It has also accompanied the text with numerous and significant photographs. In short, the jury has valued the good informative work done.

All winners and winners have received a prize of 2,000 euros and a sculpture by Imanol Andonegi Mendizabal.

In addition to the above awards, the CAF-Elhuyar event also provides a grant of EUR 5,000 to promote projects aimed at establishing a link between science and society. This year, the creation grant was for the FemPRONT project presented by the FEMIAS KOLEKTIBA group.

FemPRONT is the artistic project of digitalization of an interactive guide for the generation of TEXT-TO-IMAGE images of artificial intelligence without gender gap. In the opinion of the jury, it is particularly attractive that it deals with a matter of full relevance and that its axis is the gender perspective.

The FEMIAS KOLEKTIBA group consists of: Alejandra Bueno de Santiago, Laura Martínez Martín and Aiskoa Pérez Alonso.

CAF-Elhuyar Award for Merit

The Board of Trustees of the Elhuyar Foundation awards the CAF-Elhuyar award on merit. The objective of this award is to pay tribute to the people who have stood out in the normalization of the Basque Country and the dissemination of science and technology. In this thirtieth edition, this recognition has been given to Miren Basaras Ibarzabal as a reference in the dissemination in Euskera, especially in the field of microbiology. The Board wanted to acknowledge its contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic to publicize the disease and adopt preventive measures, always in an understandable way, without generating alarm and with an important social perspective. In addition, the Board wished to highlight the preferential treatment given to the Basque Country and the media in Euskera.

The jury that has led the awards for articles of dissemination and journalistic works has been composed of: Arturo Elosegi Irurtia, ecologist and researcher at UPV/EHU; Marian Iriarte Ormazabal, chemist and researcher at UPV; Alberto Barandiaran Amillano, journalist and writer; Idoia Torregarai Martija, coordinator at UEU; and Aitziber Agirre Ruiz. For the Neiker special prize, these have been the jury members: Arantza Madariaga Aberasturi, director of the Elika Foundation; Pilar Santamaría Martínez, head of the HAZI Foundation area; and Rikardo Bueno Zabalo, director of BRTA.

For the scholarship to create "Science in Society", the jury was as follows: Lorea Agirre Dorronsoro, director of the Jakin Foundation; Koldo Almandoz de la Cruz, film director; Josu Rekalde Izagirre, professor at the UPV Department of Art and Technology; and Irune Bengoetxea Lanberri, communications officer at Elhuyar.

Creation grant 2023

In addition to meeting the awarded people, the event has provided the opportunity to learn about the projects that won the creation grant in the previous edition.

Last year, two projects received the creation grant, in equal shares. In fact, both had the same goal: to reflect on artificial intelligence. So in the “Semiosi-genesi” project, Jon Sánchez Carrasco has created the mythology of artificial intelligence and has developed a comic book using artificial intelligence tools. On the other hand, within the framework of the “Ia dena” project of Kulturaz Azpeitiko Kultur Kooperatiba, some days have been held to analyze artificial intelligence from different perspectives. The conclusions of the day have been presented as a poem at the event.