The IDAEA successfully celebrated a new edition of the Young Researchers’ Day (YRD), where 58 PhD students showcased their work to the rest of the IDAEA scientific community. This year’s program featured 12 oral presentations, 14 one-minute pitch sessions, and 13 three-minute flash talks.

Now in its fifth consecutive year, the event brought together more than 120 members of the IDAEA scientific community, including postdoctoral researchers, technicians, and principal investigators. The main goal of the YRD remains fostering knowledge exchange across the different departments of the research center. Each year, the event sparks new collaborations among researchers, who use the occasion to connect and create synergies for their respective projects.

“Another key goal of the YRD is to gain knowledge or learn tools that are not part of our daily routine but can enrich our research. For this reason, we included a workshop on poster design and layout by Mikel Rodríguez from Illustraciencia Academy. The workshop was very well-received last year, so we thought it would be valuable to offer it again, especially for new PhD students and anyone needing to present results in this format at conferences or other events,” explained Valentina Araya, IDAEA predoctoral researcher and organizing committee member.

The event also featured six awards for the best communications:

  • Best oral presentation by the Organizing Committee: Julen Segura – Evaluating Urinary Exposure of Estrogenic Compounds in Children
  • Best oral presentation by the public: Daniel Gutiérrez – The Chemical Exposome and Brain Cancer: a Preliminary Investigation
  • Best flash talk by the Organizing Committee: Lyen Castro – Effect-Directed Analysis—A Prioritization Tool To Identify Toxicity-Driving CECs in Urban Groundwaters
  • Best flash talk by the public: Jordina Gili – Source Apportionment of Black Carbon Exposures Among Firefighters During Wildland Fires and Prescribed Forest Burns
  • Best pitch presentation by the Organizing Committee: Alejandra Cruz – Evaluating the Effectiveness of Water Retention Zone in Geomedia Amended Biofilters for Enhanced Polar Organic Contaminant Removal
  • Best pitch presentation by the public: Santiago Gómez – Urban Aquifers as Alternative Drinking Water Sources: Effect Directed Analysis and Hydrogeochemical Modelling of Emerging Pollutants in Barcelona

The YRD has evolved significantly over time, thanks in part to the leadership of the organizing committee, resulting in an increasingly dynamic and enriching program. Thank you all for making it possible!