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Carmen Herrero, awarded with the 2017 Rey Jaime I Prize in Economics: "Knowledge, research and innovation are the roots of our future"

The Ivie Researcher appeals for more investment in R&D, both public and private, at the awards ceremony of the 2017 Rey Jaime I Prizes

At the awards ceremony of the Rey Jaime I Prizes, Carmen Herrero, Professor of Economic Analysis and Ivie Researcher, expressed the need to promote investment in knowledge, research and innovation, since “they are the roots of our future”. In her speech, she pointed out that “a country that does not undergo research, that does not innovate, that does not create or place new products on the market, does not open the door to the future”.

The ceremony of the Rey Jaime I Prizes, which are considered Spain’s most important scientific awards, was presided by Queen Letizia of Spain and held in Valencia. In addition to Carmen Herrero, the winners of the 29th edition are Fernando Martín (Basic research), Josep Dalmau (Clinical medicine), Anna Travesset (Environmental protection) and Alicia Asín (New technologies).

The Ivie Researcher, who was commissioned to address the public on behalf of the six winners, highlighted in her speech the enthusiasm and effort of all those people who have participated in the projects that have been recognized with the Prizes, since the results and scientific discoveries obtained “are simply the tip of the iceberg of many efforts”.

In addition to the work developed, Herrero has stressed another fundamental factor, without which it is impossible to move forward: funding. She expressed her regrets on this issue: “Historically, in Spain the funding of scientific development has been mainly public. However, cutbacks have affected research in a double way due to budget cuts and the lack of criteria in the distribution of funds”. In this sense, Carmen Herrero has encouraged the private sector to contribute to the generation of knowledge, since, in her opinion: “research should not only be generated in the University, but scientific and technological work must also take place in our firms”.

The President of the Valencian Regional Government, Ximo Puig, upheld the importance of science; while the Mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó, highlighted that “scientific excellence needs private initiatives to make it more competitive, as well as an adequate public investment”.  Moreover, Queen Letizia, who had words of praise for the six award-winners, expressed the following words about Carmen Herrero: “she theorizes brilliantly on the concepts of welfare and justice, and has defined equity perfectly, which is a keyword in social sciences to understand the complex political and economic processes of this century and the past century”.