Eduardo Bernal, Thomas Pucher, Esther Benayas and Laura González, winners of YOUMAT23

I Seminar for Young Materials Researchers (YOUMAT) gets a huge welcome: almost a hundred young researchers were congregated at ICMM on April, 27. 

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The I Seminar for Young Materials Researchers (YOUMAT23) was celebrated at the Institute of Materials Sciences of Madrid (ICMM), CSIC, on April, 27, and the result was a total success: almost a hundred young researchers in the area were congregated to discuss their initial works even by oral communications or scientific posters in three research lines: Materials for a Sustainable World, Materials for Health and Materials for Digital Information.

The final winners of the event were Eduardo Bernal (Materials for Digital Information), Thomas Pucher (Materials for a Sustainable Word), and Esther Benayas (Materials for Health), in the oral communication section; and Laura González (Materials for a Sustainable Word) in the poster section, where she was recognized along with Cantia Belloso (Materials for Digital Information) and Marina París (Materials for Health).

The jury, composed of Ramón Y Cajal researchers Unai Atxitia, Federico Serrano, and Ana Espinosa and the members of the organizing Committee Juan García Sánchez, Clara López García, and Jorge M. Zamalloa Serrano, acknowledged Eduardo Bernal's presentation for "effectively communicate the research background ideas to the audience in a very clear and engaging manner. Never before has the generation of high harmonics been so easy to understand".

The Materials for a Sustainable World prize in the oral communication section was for Thomas Pucher for "the scientific relevance of his work, the clarity, and dynamism of his exposition", explains the jury. Finally, Esther Benayas got the prize in the oral communication section for the Materials for Health line after an interesting presentation about biomaterial-based approaches to promote neural regeneration at the injured spinal cord. The jury valued "the multidisciplinary character, clarity, and the wide variety of techniques used in the presented study".

In the poster section, Eva Maya, president of the organizing committee, explains that due to the quality of the posters, "and the excellent defense of the work and response to the questions that were asked", the scientific committee decided to give not one but three recognitions, one on each topic, and also the prize for one of these three. So, the winners were: Cantia Belloso (recognition on Materials for Digital Information), Marina Paris (recognition on Materials for Health), and Laura González (recognition and prize of Materials for a Sustainable World).

The aim of this meeting was to promote communication and interaction between young people who are starting research in the area of ​​Materials Science, as well as to create a space in which these young people from our centre could discuss the results of their work with senior staff. After finishing YOUMAT23, also the participants on the organizing committee were satisfied with the results: next year, YOUMAT24.

-- Ángela R. Bonachera (text) and Carlos Arroyo/Morgan (photo) - ICMM Communication Unit --