The researcher in Inorganic Chemistry has collaborated with this university in Toulouse (France) for more than 34 years in subjects related to the research in catalysis

“In Toulouse I have learned a lot and learning is the most interesting part of life”. With these words, the professor from the Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry at the URV, Carmen Claver, concluded her acceptance speech during her ceremony of investiture as honorary doctor of the Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse.

In 1985 the professor carried out her postdoctoral studies at this university with Professor Philippe Kalck, now emeritus, who proposed and sponsored the ceremony. The relationship between Claver and Paul Sabatier goes back a long way, during which time she has been chair of excellence, she has collaborated in doctoral theses, in international projects, in catalysis networks and she has maintained a close relationship not only with the group where she started but with different groups, more recently in research into nanocatalysis. Moreover, over the years the URV has received students from Toulouse, a collaboration that still continues today. She recalled how when she travelled to Toulouse for the first time she came into contact with technologies that did not exist at the URV and that were later set up in Tarragona.

It is the first time that she has been awarded an honorary doctorate: “When they told me I could not believe it, it was a surprise because it is a great honour and the fruit of many years of work and dedication,” she said shortly before the ceremony. In her speech she publicly thanked her sponsors for this appointment and also expressed her gratitude to the people who have accompanied her over the years “and in particular the URV, which has given me the means to conduct my research and develop my career “. She also wanted to refer to the 30 doctors whose theses she has directed, the postdocs and their collaborators and colleagues from the group of homogeneous catalysis at the University: “Catalysis is an intellectual challenge and a fundamental tool for the sustainable development of society” she mentioned in her speech. The day before the investiture, Claver participated in scientific conferences on catalysis organized by Paul Sabatier with the participation, among others, of two of her scientific mentors Luís Oro and Piet Van Leuven.

A career dedicated to catalysis

Professor in the Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry of the URV, since March 2009 Carmen Claver has been scientific director of the Technological Centre of Chemistry of Catalonia (Eurecat), a centre that contributes to improving the sustainability, competitiveness and innovation of companies in the chemical sector. As a researcher, she has focused on the development of new catalysts, principally enantioselective catalysis and nonocatalysis.

She is a distinguished researcher of the Catalan Government, who in 2007 awarded her the Narcís Monturiol Medal for her contribution to scientific and technological development in Catalonia. She has also been named member of “Academia Europaea”, a non-governmental European scientific organization founded in 1988. The French Chemical Society awarded her the 2016 Franco-Spanish prize “Miquel Català-Paul Sabatier” and that same year she joined the scientific council of the French Public Energy Institute Nouvelles (IPFEN), of which she was a member of the advisory board. Claver is one of the 15 members of the council that is responsible for the scientific evaluation of the research carried out at this public centre.