Teresa Gómez, Patricia Jimeno and María de la Trinidad Morales, researchers at the Universidad Católica de Murcia, will be honoured at the 3^rd Young Women Scientists Awards awarded by the Association of Women Scientists of the Region of Murcia 'Lyceum', which is chaired by María Trinidad Herrero. The event will take place tomorrow, Friday, at the Museo de la Ciencia y el Agua (Museum of Science and Water), to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The award winners all expressed their gratitude for this distinction and encouraged to continue promoting scientific careers among girls.

Teresa Gómez, a researcher from the REM Group of UCAM, has been recognised in the category of Basic and Experimental Sciences for her work on the treatment of wastewater to eliminate emerging drugs through the use of polymers and pulses of light, which allows its reusage. The results show that the pilot plant removes more than 80% of all pollutants in wastewater, after testing 21 different drugs. Its current research is linked to the Life Clean Up project, part of the renowned LIFE environmental proposal call.  

Engineering and Technologies 

Part of the 'Planning and Management of Water Resources' group of the Universidad Católica de Murcia, postdoctoral researcher Patricia Jimeno focuses her work on the H2020 project 'SMARTLAGOON'. This project focuses on the creation of a digital twin of the Mar Menor, which allows monitoring and recovery of the saltwater lagoon. Patricia’s field of research is linked to hydrology combined with artificial intelligence to create or restructure hydrological models. Among her latest publications we can find, her pioneering work exploring two alternative algorithms to estimate the suspended load of sediments in the Oskotz river (Navarra), or the article on the search for alternative data sources for hydrological modelling in El Salvador, which lacks such data due to the absence of certain infrastructures.  

In the Social Sciences area, the award went to Trinidad Morales, from UCAM's 'Areté: Physical Education, Sport and Performance' Research Group. She currently focuses her field of study on the adaptation of playing conditions and teaching processes, both in the subject of Physical Education and in initiation to sports. Her research concluded that the fact of winning or losing does not affect the players, however, the motivational climate can vary, due to coaches and family members.