The award recognizes the scientific leadership, quality, and originality of Calvo Zaragoza's research, as well as the national and international impact of his contributions. The award ceremony was held in Vitoria-Gasteiz and presided over by His Majesty the King. Calvo attended accompanied by the UA's Vice-Rector for Research, Juan Mora Pastor, and the Vice-Rector for Infrastructure, Sustainability, and Labor Safety, Salvador Ivorra Chorro.
During the event, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, highlighted the contribution of research to Spain's progress. The minister was accompanied by the mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Maider Etxebarria, and the Minister of Science, Universities and Innovation of the Basque Government, Juan Ignacio Pérez.
The award values scientific leadership and independence, the quality, originality, and potential of the research, as well as the applications and impact of the contributions. In this edition, the Ministry has granted ten National Research Awards and ten National Research Awards for Young Scientists, each endowed with 30,000 euros.
The University of Alicante thus adds three National Research Awards, following those obtained by Javier García Martínez and Fernando T. Maestre.
The career of Jorge Calvo Zaragoza, director of the research group 'Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence', has transformed optical music recognition (OMR). From the UA, he has consolidated an internationally recognized team in this field. His article 'Understanding Optical Music Recognition' is the most cited in the area since 2021, and his research has enabled the digitization and preservation of musical heritage. He has also driven technological developments such as MuRET and has organized WoRMS, the only international scientific meeting dedicated exclusively to OMR, since 2018.
