The First SciencEkaitza Scientific Gala—organized by the Aditech corporation in partnership the universities of Navarre and other organizations—has announced submission awards submission innovative projects in this inaugural edition. The winner was the project , project by a professor from the School of Pharmacy and NutritionMaría Blanco. Additionally, the runner-up prize in the field of renewable energy went to the project “Mole Rat,” from the School of Science and the School of Architecture; and a second runner-up prize went to the gene-edited project led by the research center Appliedresearch center (CIMA).

In total, researchers from the University of Navarra presented the winning project and won two of the four runner-up prizes, out of a total of fourteen projects that competed in this first edition. All of them had to meet the requirement of being innovative, disruptive and an example of cooperation between different groups.

The first award, which consisted of 4,000 €, went to Nanocáncer, a project on diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors in children using nanotechnology. In addition to the department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology of the University of Navarra, researchers from the Public University of Navarra Cristina Gómez and Iñaki Pérez de Landazabal, as well as Francisco Martín, from AIN, collaborated in the project.

The runner-up prize in the renewable area was awarded to project biomimicry project “From the naked mole-rat to dual energy systems in buildings,” the result of a partnership researchers from the School of Science — Arturo Ariño, David Galicia, and Rafael Miranda —the School of Architecture the University of Navarra—César Martín and Amaia Zuazua—and the National Renewable Energy Center (CENER) — Irantzu Alegría and Laura García. This project mimicking the metabolism of the naked mole-rat to design dual energy systems that improve building efficiency.

Finally, a second of the 4 runner-up prizes awarded at this first edition of the scientific gala was the project "Gene Drones", devised by researchers from CIMA of the University of Navarra Rafael Aldabe and Gloria Gonzáez-Aseguinolaza, together with Francisco Martín and María Monteserín, from AIN. Their goal: using magnetic particles to target drugs to diseased cells in a more precise way, avoiding healthy cells.

SciencEkaitza is the I Scientific Gala held in Navarra with the purpose to become a celebration of science and technology for all audiences. In addition to the gala, during three days there have been exhibitions and conferences of experts, such as the Nobel of Chemistry Mario Molina -who spoke about sustainable development in the CIMA of the University of Navarra- and Sue Black -radical thinker who gave her master class in the Amigos Building-.