Three scientific projects from the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) have been selected in the 12th edition of the BBVA Foundation's Leonardo Grants for Researchers and Cultural Creators in three fields: computer science and data science, social sciences, and engineering. These grants, aimed at researchers at a mid-stage in their careers, seek to promote highly innovative proposals in a wide range of scientific and cultural disciplines.
Researcher David Martínez Rubio, from the Department of Signal Theory and Communications at UC3M, will work on the ADOPT-AI (Adaptive optimization for AI) project, which falls within the field of computer science and data science. This initiative seeks to create algorithms that automate the adjustment of parameters in the training of artificial intelligence (AI) models, significantly reducing the cost and time of this process. The ultimate goal is to achieve faster, cheaper, and more efficient AI systems that can be applied on a large scale, as in the case of large language models. “Given several optimization algorithms, the aim is to obtain a meta-algorithm that offers the advantages of all of them at once, being as fast as the one that would perform best for each situation, without knowing in advance which one that would be,” explains David Martínez Rubio.
Researcher Amuitz Garmendia Madariaga, from the Department of Social Sciences at UC3M, has been selected for her DRIFT project (Decentralization, Reforms, Institutions, and the Formation of Territorial Preferences). This study aims to analyze how citizens' preferences regarding the territorial distribution of power within the state are formed and evolve, combining political theories, historical analysis, and public opinion studies. “In short, we want to deepen our understanding of territorial preferences in democracy and their role in the institutional and territorial evolution of states,” says Amuitz Garmendia Madariaga.
In the field of engineering, researcher Manuel Torres Carrasco, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering at UC3M, is leading the BIO3D-TES project (Bio-inspired functionalization in sustainable 3D-printable systems for large-scale energy storage). Its objective is to develop a new generation of smart and sustainable thermal batteries using 3D printing and low-carbon materials, inspired by natural structures such as spider webs and shark skin. “Inspired by these efficient natural architectures, the aim is to offer high thermal performance, adaptability, and sustainability,” says Manuel Torres Carrasco. To this end, they will develop prototypes of printed TES systems that can adapt to variable thermal demands and contribute to industrial decarbonization.
In this 2025 call for grants, the BBVA Foundation has awarded 59 grants in ten areas of knowledge, selected from among 1,623 applications, representing a success rate of 3,7%. Each project has a maximum funding of €50,000 for its development over a period of 12 to 18 months. Since 2014, the Leonardo Scholarships have been a strategic commitment by the BBVA Foundation to support excellence in knowledge in all its forms, both scientific and creative.