It is the first year that the CSIC granted this new award to CSIC Relevant Doctoral Thesis. The award recognizes doctoral theses carried out and defended by CSIC research staff that have stood out for their quality, impact and relevance.

Sole Roig did her PhD Thesis in the Nanoparticles and Nanocomposites (NN) group between 2016 and 2021 supervised by Anna Roig and Anna Laromaine. The thesis is titled "Novel bacterial cellulose materials: Structuration, functional nanocomposites and photocurable hydrogels" and demonstrated the versatility of bacterial cellulose beyond the current state-of-the-art, paving the way to future applications of nanocellulosic materials from non-plant-derived cellulose. Roig developed a variety of materials made out of bacterial cellulose with different properties and applications. 

Sole Roig defended her PhD Thesis at ICMAB on 28 September 2021. The PhD Committee that evaluated the Thesis was formed by Miguel Gama, Universidade do Minho, Portugal (President), Fabiola Vilaseca Morera, Universitat de Girona (Secretary), and Carlos Albert García González, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (Vocal).

From left to right: Anna Roig, Sole Roig and Anna Laromaine, after the PhD Thesis Defense in September 2021 | ICMAB-CSIC

After the PhD at ICMAB, Sole Roig did a one-yer postdoc in Canada, at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver on materials based on biopolymers for applications in agriculture. In a few days, in March, she will start a postdoc on nanocellulose in Valencia, at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA). 

CSIC Relevant Doctoral Award

The awards ceremony was held on Friday, February 24, at the auditorium of the CSIC headquarters in Serrano Street, Madrid.

"With the Relevant Doctoral Thesis Award, institutional recognition is given to the great work carried out by early stage researchers at the CSIC. Their work is crucial for the advancement of knowledge and of our institution. This award highlights their merits and helps them to continue advancing in their research and professional careers," said the director of the Postgraduate and Specialization Department (DPE).

Sole Roig says that she is "Very happy for the award. It is gratifying to have your work and effort recognized" and adds "I think that these awards are important for young researchers because they motivate you to continue researching".

Awardees at the CSIC awards ceremony 

Sole Roig wishes to acknowledge "My two supervisors, Anna Roig and Anna Laromaine, my family and friends, and all the ICMABers, for the informal conversations, coffees and lunches at ICMAB that unblock you when you might feel blocked and ignite the spark to find the solution to the problem you are looking for" (see the video to see the acknowledgements in Sole Roig's speech).

In this first call, the theses defended during the year 2021 have been awarded. The winners in the Life (Vida) area are María Sáez, Inmaculada López, Juncal Espinosa, Marta Montero, Jorge Santamaría, David Vizarraga, Norman Steinert, Alba Lara, Loreto Martínez and Isaac Benito. In the area of Matter (Materia), Pablo Villanueva, Alberto Martín, Sergio Jiménez, Xoana Barcala, Adrià Delhom, Tamara Lucio and Soledad Roig. And finally, in the area of Society (Sociedad), Sofia González, María Dolores Sánchez and Mattia Mazzoli.

Sole Roig receiving the award at the awards ceremony at CSIC

You can watch here the awards ceremony (Sole Roig's intervention from minute 1:19:14):

Margarita Salas Medal

Durint the same day, the first edition of the Margarita Salas Medal for the best career in the supervision of research personnel was also awarded. Both the Margarita Salas Medal and the CSIC's Relevant Doctoral Thesis Award are part of the Human Resources Excellence Strategy (HRS4R) of the CSIC.

More information:

• El CSIC entrega los premios a la mejor trayectoria en la supervisión de tesis doctorales y a las tesis más relevantes (CSIC, 24 Feb 2023)
• El CSIC lanza unos premios para reconocer las tesis doctorales más relevantes (CSIC, 9 May 2022)