Twelve new Academy of Excellence grants awarded to UAB lecturers
Twelve lecturers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) were selected in the 2025 call of the Acadèmia d'Excel·lència programme, launched by the Catalan Ministry for Research and Universities. These grants, which replace the former ICREA Acadèmia programme, aim to intensify the scientific activity of university lecturers in the active and expanding phase of their research career.
The programme has a global budget of 10 million euros, with an allocation of 40,000 euros per year for five years for each selected person, with the aim of guaranteeing that priority be given to research tasks.
In this edition, 50 lecturers from the Catalan university system will receive the grants, with 12 lecturers being from the UAB. The grants have been awarded to: Oriol Marquet Sarda (Department of Geography), Jordi Martínez Vilalta (Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology), Eva Anduiza Perea (Department of Political Science and Public Law), Javier Rodríguez Viejo (Department of Physics), Alejandro Pomarol Clotet (Department of Physics), Gara Villalba Méndez (Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering), Salvador Ventura Zamora (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Alicia Fornés Bisquerra (Department of Computer Science), Marc Torrent Burgas (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Dimosthenis Karatzas (Department of Computer Science), Antonio López Gay (Department of Geography), and Maria del Mar Griera Llonch (Department of Sociology).
The Acadèmia d'Excel·lència grants are intended exclusively for permanent, full-time teaching staff who teach regularly and are in a stage of maximum research activity. The management of the programme corresponds to the Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR).
Distribution by areas of knowledge
The grants have been awarded in various disciplines: engineering and technology, social sciences, arts and humanities, experimental sciences, biomedicine and health sciences, among others. With this initiative, the Catalan government aims to strengthen the scientific leadership of Catalonia's university system and contribute to its international projection.