The journalists of the Science section of the newspaper El Paísand scientists Alfredo Corell, Margarita del Val, José Antonio López Guerrero, Ignacio López-Goñi and Antoni Trilla have been awarded in the 1st edition of the CSIC-BBVA Foundation Science Communication Awards.

The jury awarded the Science section of El País the award in the category of journalists specialized in science communication "for the extraordinary quality of the science journalism they have carried out since their foundation, which over the last decade has made them the world reference in science communication in Spanish". As for the five scientists jointly awarded in the category of researchers who contribute to the dissemination of knowledge to society, they are recognized "for becoming the voice of science from the beginning of the pandemic, transmitting the scientific knowledge on this threat in a language accessible to the general public".

Ignacio López-Goñi is Full Professor of Microbiology at the University of Navarra. Since 2011 he combines his work professor and research with an intense activity of science dissemination. As director of the Science Museum of the University of Navarra she promotes knowledge dissemination activities for all subject audiences and in multiple formats, from cinema to talks and workshops. His blog microBIO is a reference letter of communication and knowledge dissemination of science and microbiology on line, and his Twitter account @microbioblogwith almost 70,000 followers, is one of the most popular in microbiology at Spanish. López-Goñi has published four books on knowledge dissemination: Do vaccines work?; Microbiota, the microbes in your body; Viruses and pandemics; and Prepared for the next pandemic: reflections from science. Also, together with her daughter, Princesas de cristal, a testimony about juvenile anorexia.

During the pandemic he has become one of the experts most consulted by the media and listened to by the public. One of his articles in The Conversation, Ten good news stories about the coronavirusreached 22 million readers worldwide; it has been republished in more than a hundred media.

For López-Goñi, "our role has been to try to explain the scientific evidence in a context of tremendous uncertainty. It has been the most difficult thing, because society needs certainty and uncertainty is not easy to handle". Enormously satisfied with award, he hopes to have contributed to increasing not only the scientific culture of the population, but also its appreciation for science and the recognition of its role in society.