2 young researchers awarded the Daniel Carasso Fellowship

In December 2020, we launched the Daniel Carasso Fellowship, a support programme for young postdoctoral researchers, regardless of nationality or scientific discipline, working for systems research in the field of sustainable food in Spain. Given the high quality of the 62 projects presented, the jury finally decided to reward two fellows: the Spanish Raquel Ajates González and the Colombian Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi, who finished as joint winners. We will meet them on Thursday 14 October in Madrid to celebrate science at the service of the food transition, during a ceremony and a round table broadcast live.

These two projects respond to the challenges highlighted by this new programme , namely the strengthening of the fabric of research and innovation in Spain, and the support of talented researchers at the beginning of their scientific careers. Dedicated to sustainable food research from a systemic perspective, the Daniel Carasso Fellowship thus promotes synergies between different fields and disciplines that are generally disconnected.

The grant of 160,000 euros for each project is intended for the following research:

• “Diversity and Seed Governance: Sustainability, Big Data and the Social Movement for Open Source Systems”, by Raquel Ajates González , who will develop her research at the National University of Distance Learning (UNED)
• ” Sustainable public food procurement in Spain: State of the art and prospects for generalization “, by Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

With a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a PhD in food policy, Raquel Ajates González is currently working at the University of Dundee (UK) on two citizen science and sustainability projects under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. By winning the Daniel Carasso Fellowship, Raquel Ajates González joins the UNED research team in Spain.

Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi holds a bachelor’s degree in ecology and a PhD in food systems sustainability. He also participated in the SEVERAS project – Socio-Environmental Vulnerability in Rural Spain at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, which will therefore also host his new research project.

Two projects with high transformative potential for the transition to sustainable food systems

Thanks to the Daniel Carasso Fellowship, Raquel Ajates González will study the socio-economic, political and sustainability implications of different seed governance regimes (sharing, protections, etc.). It will examine how seeds are used, shared and protected to identify their contribution to biodiversity, social justice and the sustainability of food systems.

Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi, meanwhile, will continue his career at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where he will be responsible for analysing sustainable public food procurement initiatives at the national level. The key data obtained in this way will, we hope, contribute to improving public policies.

On Thursday, October 14 in Madrid, we will have the pleasure of awarding the two joint winners of their Daniel Carasso Fellowship prizes, and to celebrate together science at the service of the food transition. This ceremony, broadcast live and in simultaneous translation in English, is open to all upon registration. A round table will bring together 6 experts in sustainable food around a fundamental question: How can science respond to societal challenges?

How can science respond to societal challenges?
Round table with:

Carlos Mataix
Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano – idUPM

María Navarro
Oficina de Cambio Climático. Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico

María Ramos
Alimentta, think tank para la transición alimentaria

Jane Battersby
Premio Daniel Carasso 2017
University of Cape Town

Raquel Ajates
Daniel Carasso Fellow 2021
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)

Daniel Gaitán
Daniel Carasso Fellow 2021
Instituto de Tecnología y Ciencias Ambientales (ICTA-UAB)

Rigorous support from experts from different disciplines and nationalities

In order to guarantee the rigor, excellence and quality of the process that the initiative required in its various stages, many experts from different disciplines and nationalities committed themselves to working with us.
The steering committee guided the entire process, from defining the rules of the call for projects through the selection process, to the design of the award event. The pre-selection committee was responsible for evaluating the proposals received and pre-selecting six applications according to the criteria set out in the call for projects.

Finally, a six-member jury conducted individual interviews with the finalists and finally selected, in view of the high quality of the projects received, those of the two young researchers who won this edition: Raquel Ajates González and Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi.

We thank all the experts who have accompanied us to support these pioneering initiatives, which highlight more sustainable perspectives on food and the importance of multidisciplinary research.

It is therefore together that we embark on this new path, and for the next two years we will closely follow the development of the research projects of Raquel Ajates González and Daniel Gaitán Cremaschi, who thus become the first members of this new community of young researchers committed to sustainable food. These grants mark our commitment to support research as an essential and complementary way to actions in the field to promote universal access to healthy food, respectful of people and ecosystems.