Usue Olatz Aspiazu Iturbe wins Koldo Mitxelena Award in Science

Former POLYMAT PhD researcher Usue Olatz Aspiazu Iturbe has won the Science category in the ninth edition of the Koldo Mitxelena Awards for doctoral theses written in Basque. The awards are jointly organised by the University of the Basque Country (EHU) and Euskaltzaindia to promote research in Basque and recognise the work of early-career researchers.

Her thesis, “Real-time inline/online monitoring of particle size and particle size distribution during emulsion polymerization processes”, was supervised by Jose R. Leiza and María Paulis. The research focused on monitoring particle size and its distribution during emulsion polymerization processes.

This edition received 57 submissions across five fields, including 10 theses in Science. For the first time, the call was open to all doctoral theses written in Basque, including those from universities other than EHU.

The award ceremony will take place on 30 November 2026 at EHU’s Bizkaia Aretoa in Bilbao.