Microbiologist Ignacio López-Goñi receives the COSCE Award for the Dissemination of Science 2021

The President of the Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain, Perla Wahnón, has presented the COSCE Award for the Dissemination of Science 2021 to Ignacio López-Goñi, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Navarra. This award recognizes the contribution of outstanding members of the scientific community in the dissemination of knowledge.

The jury -composed of Perla Wahnón and scientists Carlos Andradas and José María Bermúdez de Castro- has highlighted, in addition to his teaching and research activities, "his extensive and continuous trajectory in dissemination both in blogs and social networks".

Among the 36 nominations for the award, the jury has awarded Ignacio López-Goñi, presented by the Spanish Society of Microbiology, for his variety of science dissemination formats that include the publication of several high-impact popularization books on viruses and pandemics, microbiota or vaccines, the authorship of several blogs, as well as his articles on the platform TheConversation, such as "Ten good news about the coronavirus", translated into six languages and with more than 21 million readers.

The jury has also highlighted the impact he has had in these last two years of pandemic, "his dedication and his intense outreach activity, both for his interventions on television, radio and press, as well as in social networks and participation in round tables and conferences. All these contributions to the dissemination of science in general and on microbiology, virology and vaccines against COVID-19 have earned him the COSCE 2021 Award for the Dissemination of Science, endowed with 3,000 euros.

During the award ceremony, the former president of COSCE and former rector of the Complutense University of Madrid, Professor Carlos Andradas, gave a portrait of the award winner, where he pointed out the need for scientific knowledge to address the major challenges we face such as climate change, new forms of energy, poverty and inequality, among others. He also explained that to combat misinformation it is necessary to bring science closer to the public and improve science education, characteristics that Professor López-Goñi welcomes.