Dr. Xavier Pons, Full Professor of the Department of Geography at the UAB and leader of the GRUMETS research group has obtained a new ICREA-Acadèmia Award for the 2016-2020 period. This is the second consecutive time that he have granted this recognition, which he already enjoyed during the 2011-2015 period.

The ICREA-Acadèmia program aims to encourage research excellence of teaching staff and researchers from public universities in Catalonia. A total of 30 professors have received this distinction in this call, 6 from UAB, 8 from UPF, 5 from UB and UPC, 3 from URV, 2 from UdG and 1 from UdL.

ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, is a foundation supported by the Catalan Government and guided by a Board of Trustees. ICREA was created in response to the need to seek new hiring formulas that would make it possible to compete with other research systems on a similar footing by focusing on hiring only the most talented and extraordinary scientists and academics. ICREA offers permanent, tenured positions to researchers from all over the world to come and work in Catalonia. Over the years these positions have become a synonym of global academic excellence.