Rewrite Manuel Souto honored with the Young Researcher Award by the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry this news headline for the science magazine post

The Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) recently announced the winners of its annual awards, with Manuel Souto receiving the Young Researcher Award in the “Group Leader” category. The RSEQ emphasized the exceptional quality of the candidates and recognized Souto’s outstanding professional achievements and his leadership of the ElectroMolMat research group at the Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS) of the University of Santiago de Compostela.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award and grateful to the RSEQ for this recognition,” said Souto. He also expressed his appreciation for the dedication and enthusiasm of his team members, both past and present. “I want to acknowledge CiQUS and the Oportunius program of the Xunta, which enabled me to return to Spain and continue my research under excellent conditions and with outstanding infrastructure.”

Souto joined CiQUS in 2023 as an Oportunius Research Professor, after his tenure at the Institute of Materials of Aveiro – CICECO (Portugal). His research focuses on designing electroactive molecular materials, particularly the synthesis of novel porous polymers with applications in electronics and energy storage. Currently, he holds a prestigious grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to develop a project aimed at creating a new family of COFs—porous materials based on abundant element, with exceptional properties—for use as electrodes in rechargeable batteries.

This recognition from the RSEQ adds to Souto’s previous accolades, including the NanoMatMol PhD Award (2017), the Extraordinary PhD Award (2018), and the European Award for PhD Theses on Molecular Magnetism (2020). Additionally, Souto is a member of the Young Academy of Europe, a pan-European initiative that recognizes emerging scientists and promotes scientific exchange and contributions to community scientific policy.

Since 2017, five researchers from CiQUS have been honored with the RSEQ’s Young Researcher Award: Moisés Gulías, Martín Fañanás, Javier Montenegro, Beatriz Pelaz, and now Manuel Souto. The center is recognized by the Xunta de Galicia with the CIGUS accreditation, which highlights the quality and impact of its research, and is co-financed by the European Union through the Galicia FEDER Program 2021-2027.