Ana Rodríguez Castaño, Secretary-General for Agricultural Resources and Food Safety at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, presided over the award ceremony held at Grupo Fertiberia’s headquarters in Madrid.
- Katarzyna Dobrzynska and Rocío Roca Couso received two ex aequo runner-up distinctions for their research work.
- Fertiberia reaffirms its commitment to research and recognizes agronomic talent by granting €30,000 in prizes.
Madrid, November 5, 2025. Researcher Jesús Valentín García has been recognized with the 27th Fertiberia Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis in Agricultural Topics, one of Europe’s most prestigious distinctions in agronomic research. His thesis, entitled “Improving the sustainability of strawberry cultivation through bio-tools,” was defended at the University of Seville.
The award ceremony, held at the company’s corporate headquarters in Madrid, was presided over by Ana Rodríguez Castaño, Secretary-General for Agricultural Resources and Food Safety, and Juan Pablo Llobet, CEO of Grupo Fertiberia.
Two ex aequo runner-up prizes were also presented to Katarzyna Dobrzynska and Rocío Roca Couso. Dobrzynska was recognized for her thesis “Engineering functional nitrogenase cofactor biosynthesis protein NifEN in mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae,” defended at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Roca Couso received the award for her thesis defended at the University of Salamanca, titled “Analysis of the endobacteriome associated with Rubus ulmifolius Schott, evaluation of the antifungal potential of the associated bacterial volatilome, and study of the influence of Arthrobacter and Rhizobium strains on the variation of gene expression related to oxidative stress tolerance in the in vivo model Caenorhabditis elegans.”
In addition to its academic prestige, the Fertiberia Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis in Agricultural Topics is one of the most highly endowed agronomic research prizes in Europe, with a total value of €30,000, distributed among the authors and thesis supervisors. In this edition, the author of the winning thesis received €14,000, while the supervisors shared €8,000. The authors of the runner-up theses each received €2,500, and their respective supervisors €1,500.
During the event, Ana Rodríguez Castaño highlighted the importance of university talent: “Technology transfer is essential to achieve a balance between profitability, competitiveness, and mutual benefit. We must establish solid links between universities, businesses, and public administrations so that research and innovation become the driving force of the agricultural sector, making the Spanish economy and fertilization practices more fertile.”
For Juan Pablo Llobet, CEO of Grupo Fertiberia, the winning research reflects the company’s philosophy: “Maintaining this commitment to quality research for almost three decades shows that Grupo Fertiberia is a company that thinks long-term and carries innovation in its DNA. Because true innovation can only advance through excellent basic research.”
The jury for this edition, chaired by Francisco González Torres, Dean of the Official College of Agricultural Engineers of Central Spain and the Canary Islands (COIACC), included David Herrero, Chief Operations Officer of Grupo Fertiberia; José Manuel Palacios, Director of ETSIAAB; Augusto Arce Martínez, Associate Professor at the School of Agricultural Engineering (Polytechnic University of Madrid); Ana Patricia Fernández-Getino García, Technical Director for Variety Evaluation and Laboratories at INIA-CSIC; Javier Brañas, Director of R&D&I at Grupo Fertiberia; and Ana Laureano, R&D Project Manager at Grupo Fertiberia.
Twenty-Seven Editions Supporting Agronomic Research and Development
Since the award’s creation in 1996, nearly 500 doctoral theses from more than 50 universities and research centers in Spain and Portugal have been considered. Over the years, Fertiberia has granted close to one million euros in prizes, strengthening research capacity and nurturing agronomic talent across the sector.
The award’s call for submissions requires that participating theses must have received the highest “cum laude” distinction and be directly related to fertilization, soils and soil amendments, or agricultural activity in general.
