The conference dealt with issues such as access to food, a fundamental right that derives from the right to life. In the society we live in, this means collectively ensuring that the food we need is produced and that we can access it. We also know that food is a key factor in our health and we want to eat in a way that is consistent with our way of thinking. Therefore, ensuring sufficient, safe, healthy and culturally appropriate food is a demand of our society.

The impact that food production has on the climate and on culture will also be addressed in Pere Puigdomènech’s speech. A complex situation that can be applied to all populations and future generations. Thus, it is essential now, more than ever, to always resort to the best knowledge that science has to offer.

An award-winning career dedicated to research

Pere Puigdomènech holds a degree in Physical Sciences from the University of Barcelona and a PhD in Biological Sciences from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. After a stay at the Max-Planck Institute in Berlin, he joined the CSIC in 1981. He has worked at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Barcelona, where he was director until 2002. He was head of the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB) in Barcelona between 2003 and 2013.

His recent research work has been related to gene regulation and genomics in cultivated plants. He has published 185 scientific articles and hundreds of popular articles in international journals and the media. He has received the Narcís Monturiol Medal for scientific and technological merit from the Catalan government (1992), the Catalan Foundation Award for Research (2000), the COSCE Award for scientific dissemination (2013) and the European Award for Scientific Dissemination of the Universitat de València (2019).