Two members of the BIST Community have been honoured with 2025 National Research Awards (Premis Nacionals de Recerca), presented by the Government of Catalonia and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI).
Luis Serrano, Director of the CRG, has received the National Research Award, Catalonia’s highest scientific distinction, and Katherine Villa, Group Leader at ICIQ, was recognised with the award for Young Talent.
These awards, this year in their 36th edition, promote the social recognition of science, highlighting excellence in research, patronage, entrepreneurship and communication, as well as the organisations that drive knowledge transfer and the creation of science-based companies.
The National Research Award, the highest scientific honour in Catalonia, honours researchers whose work has had significant international impact. Luis Serrano, ICREA Professor and director of the BIST Community centre CRG, has been awarded this year in recognition of his pioneering contributions to systems biology and protein design. The National Research Award for Young Talent recognises the scientific excellence and career of young researchers who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of science. ICREA Professor and Group Leader at ICIQ, Katherine Villa, has received the award this year for her work on photocatalytic materials and photoactive micromotors.
Luis Serrano
In a speech during the awards ceremony, which took place on February 20th in Barcelona, Serrano pointed out that “Science is never an individual achievement. Behind any discovery there are teams, institutions and an ecosystem that makes it possible. This prize recognises a trajectory, but it also recognises a system.”
The distinction comes at a symbolic moment for Serrano. After fifteen years at the helm of the CRG, he will step down as Director later this year.
Luis Serrano’s career has been defined by a drive to uncover the physical rules that govern living systems, and to use that knowledge to design new ones. Trained in biochemistry and cellular biology in Madrid, Cambridge and Heidelberg, he became internationally known for his work on the thermodynamic principles of protein folding, helping explain how a protein’s structure determines its function.
One of his most widely adopted contributions is FoldX, a computational tool used by researchers and pharmaceutical companies worldwide to predict the effects of mutations and guide rational protein design.
“FoldX began almost as an intellectual exercise,” Serrano reflects. “We wanted to understand how small changes in a protein’s sequence affect its stability. Today, that same framework is helping to design enzymes, understand disease mutations and accelerate drug development. It’s a reminder that rigorous basic science can travel much further than you initially imagine.”
Beyond individual molecules, his work expanded into quantitative models of gene regulation and signalling networks, helping bridge molecular biology with engineering approaches that underpin modern synthetic biology.
If he had to summarise his career in one idea, Serrano told the audience, it would be this: “I’ve tried to be a builder of systems: biological systems, of course, but also human and institutional systems.”
In his speech, Serrano also emphasised the strength of Catalonia’s research landscape. “For years we said we wanted to ‘play in the Champions League’ of European science,” he noted. “Today, we can say we are there. That is something to celebrate.” But celebration, he added, must be matched by ambition. “Being in the Champions League does not mean you relax. It means the challenge is greater. We must redouble our commitment to talent and long-term investment.”
Katherine Villa
Professor Katherine Villa expressed her deep gratitude for the recognition received: “I want to express my gratitude to the minister and the Foundation for this award. Catalonia is my second home, and receiving this recognition here is especially exciting for me.”
She also highlighted that her scientific career – focused on physical chemistry, nanomaterials and energy – has been able to grow and consolidate thanks to the country’s research ecosystem.
She also underlined the relevance of her line of research, based on photocatalytic materials and photoactive micromotors: “We are working to develop light-driven micromotors that are capable of cleaning, detecting and transforming pollutants in a sustainable way. Our goal is for these advances to come out of the laboratory and become real solutions to face environmental and energy challenges.”
She also called for support for emerging talent: “Betting on young researchers is betting on the future of the scientific system”, she said.
Katherine Villa’s career stands out for her leadership in the research of nanostructured photocatalytic systems based on multicomponent heterojunctions designed to convert pollutants into valuable chemicals and fuels. Her group also develops light-driven micro- and nanorobots that display autonomous motion, environmental sensing, and tuneable chemical activity, enabling applications in water purification, selective chemical transformations, and photodynamic therapy. Her research advances EU priorities in clean energy, water decontamination, and health.
In 2025, her work was further recognised with the prestigious ERC Proof of Concept Grant for the PhotoSERS project. The project aims to develop light-powered microswimmers capable of selectively capturing and detecting harmful PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”, from water, offering a sensitive, real-time monitoring solution for these persistent environmental pollutants.
Other winners
In this edition, the the National Research Award for Young Talent has been awarded ex aequo to Prof. Villa together with the researcher Nadejda Blagorodnova Mujortova, from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB).
The Award for Knowledge Transfer and Innovation has gone to the Eurecat Foundation, and the Award for Scientific Communication to the science communicator Pere Estupinyà.
The Award for Patronage has been presented to Project ARI, from Hospital Clínic and IDIBAPS, and the Award for the Creation of a Science-Based Company has gone to the University of Lleida (UdL) and the Université de Sherbrooke for the start-up UniSCool.
