During his research visits and collaborations in Germany, Camps Valls will work with Max Planck institutions, particularly in biogeochemistry (Jena), as well as with leading groups in artificial intelligence and environmental sciences. These activities will strengthen scientific links between the University of Valencia and top-tier research centres. The award not only recognises the Valencian researcher’s career but also promotes new opportunities for international cooperation and reinforces the UV’s position within the European landscape of scientific excellence.

The central focus of the research will be the application of machine learning methods to the study of extreme events, especially in humanitarian contexts. To this end, Camps Valls’ expertise will be leveraged to carry out an integrated analysis of extreme weather phenomena such as droughts and heatwaves, as well as their effects on ecosystems and communities, using observational data and model outputs.

Gustau Camps Valls, who leads the Image and Signal Processing (ISP) research group – an interdisciplinary team of more than 50 researchers – is recognised as one of the most influential scientists in artificial intelligence and machine learning applied to Earth observation and climate sciences. His work covers key areas such as image and signal processing, machine learning and causality, applied to remote sensing data and the Earth system.

His research combines artificial intelligence algorithms with physical knowledge and causal inference to improve the global monitoring of the planet, the analysis of extreme climate events such as droughts and heatwaves, and the understanding of complex processes in the biosphere and climate, as well as their interaction with the anthroposphere. The methods developed by his group are used by space agencies, international humanitarian organisations and research centres worldwide, and contribute directly to advances in Earth science and sustainability.

Professor Camps Valls’ scientific output includes more than 400 articles in international journals, over 400 conference papers, 25 book chapters and several scientific books. With an h-index exceeding 100 and a very high citation count, his work demonstrates sustained and significant scientific impact at the international level.

Among other distinctions, Gustau Camps Valls has been named a Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate) on several occasions, has received the Google Classic Paper Award, and has been identified among the most cited researchers in engineering. He is an IEEE Fellow (2018) in the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society and in the Signal Processing Society, from which he received the IEEE David Landgrebe Award 2024, and has served as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, disseminating artificial intelligence for Earth sciences worldwide. He is also an ELLIS Fellow and coordinator of the ELLIS programme Machine Learning for Earth and Climate Sciences, a Fellow of the AGU, of the Academia Europaea and of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc), from which he recently received the Blaise Pascal Medal.