A mural by artist Isa Nieto was unveiled today in Valencia as the first in a series funded by the ‘Dones de ciència’ (Women of Science) project. The artwork is intended to pay tribute to Professor Lechuga and her extraordinary career as a researcher, as well as to highlight the contribution of women in science.
Today, 21 September 2023, the mural that the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the innovation centre “Las Naves” of the Valencia City Council dedicate to Prof. Laura Lechuga has been unveiled. CSIC Professor and leader of the NanoBiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group at the ICN2, Prof. Lechuga is the first woman to receive the Spanish National Research Award for Technology Transfer.
The mural is the work of the Andalusian artist Isa Nieto and is located at the CEIP Ausiàs March in Alboraia (Valencia). It is the first of the murals that will be inaugurated during the academic year 2023/24 within the framework of the Dones de ciència (Women of Science) project, promoted by UPV and Las Naves, with the collaboration of the FECYT-Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.
In the mural, Isa Nieto manages to capture and synthesise the research carried out by Prof. Laura Lechuga throughout her career, with direct references to devices such as nanobiosensors and microchips, as well as proteins, viruses, our circulatory system, and more. This artwork also stands out for its great chromatic intensity with a predominance of red, a fundamental colour for Laura Lechuga, along with dark blue, integrating with the surroundings of the school.
"For me, participating in this project has been a privilege. I think it is very important that women scientists of Laura Lechuga's relevance are represented in schools like this one. And the fact that the authors of these murals are also women is wonderful. This project helps to give visibility to our work and to set an example for girls and boys," said Isa Nieto.
At the unveiling of the mural, Prof. Lechuga commented "I am very excited to see myself included in this incredible mural by Isa Nieto, which reflects my technological developments in an allegorical way. I hope that my image serves as an inspiration for all children, especially girls, and that they see that dreams can be achieved and that the science and technology that surrounds them can also be built by them in the future".
Aroa Valle, headmistress of the school highlighted explained: "Women of Science has been a boost to continue working for the love of science with our students. We are very excited about this project that fits perfectly with our line of school where coeducation is one of our basic pillars."
The event was also attended by the vice-rector of the UPV, Salomé Cuesta, who stressed "the importance of continuing to support a project like Women in Science, which is already a reference throughout the country and is helping to raise the profile of great women in science, such as Laura Lechuga".
Finally, Marta Chillarón, Director of Las Naves, stressed: "We want our innovation to have an impact and improve people's lives. And having more and more women in the field of science is key to having an increasingly equitable city. Sending this message through murals is also important because it connects with an expressive language that is closer to a young person and allows us, on the one hand, to make visible and pay tribute to women scientists of national and international reference and, on the other hand, to denounce the consequences of gender inequality in the construction of scientific and research vocations and in the development of the professional careers of women in these areas."
About Dones de ciència (Women of Science)
With the mural in homage to Laura Lechuga, there are now 34 murals created within the framework of Dones de ciència, an initiative that just a year ago was recognised with the prize for the best singular project of the Prismas Casa de las Ciencias a la Divulgación 2022, the most important in the country in the field of scientific communication and dissemination. Dones de ciència also responds to the philosophy of the European project Science Goes To School, in which the Universitat Politècnica de València participates and which aims to bring science and its protagonists closer to schools.
About Prof. Laura Lechuga
Laura M. Lechuga Gómez studied Chemical Sciences at the University of Cadiz and obtained her PhD from the Complutense University of Madrid, carried out at the National Microelectronics Centre of the CSIC. She is Research Professor at CSIC, and Head of the Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) in Barcelona.
Her scientific research area focuses on nanomedicine and nano-diagnostics and the technological development of photonic biosensors for decentralised clinical and environmental diagnostics, and she is considered one of the world experts in this area. She has published more than 300 research papers, holds 8 patent families and four industrial secrets, has given more than 480 invited lectures worldwide and has co-founded two innovative companies, being a pioneer in Spain in doing so.
Throughout her successful career she has received more than 22 awards and distinctions. Among others are the two most prestigious scientific awards in Spain: the National Research Award 2020 in Technology Transfer (first woman to receive it) and the King Jaume I Award in New Technologies 2020. She has also received the Physics, Innovation and Technology Award from the Royal Society of Physics and the BBVA Foundation in 2016; the Ada Byron Award 2020; the XVIII Burdinola Research Award 2021; the Olof Palme International Foundation Medal 2021. In recent years she has been awarded the AstraZeneca "Lung Ambition Alliance" Award; the "National Antibiotic Resistance Plan" Award (Ministry of Health), the "Sepsis Code" Foundation Award and the National Nanotechnology Award 2023. She is also Doctor "Honoris Causa" by the University of Cadiz.
She has carried out an important scientific dissemination work for more than 20 years, being one of the pioneers in Spain in this field, with numerous TV and radio programmes, books, interviews in the press and conferences and dissemination articles at national and international level.
News via UPV and Las Naves..