Chemistry Graduate Student Awarded Prestigious Spanish Fellowship

Orhi Esarte Palomero, a chemistry graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded a prestigious "la Caixa" postgraduate fellowship. Sponsored by the "la Caixa" Banking Foundation, these fellowships are granted each year to Spanish graduate students studying abroad.

Palomero was one of 120 students selected from a pool of more than 1,300 candidates. In North America, only one fellowship was given in chemistry, and Palomero received it. The award will support his second and third years of graduate studies at UT Austin, providing all tuition fees and a monthly stipend. Orhi was presented his award certificate by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain at a ceremony held earlier this year.

Since 1982 the "la Caixa" Foundation has given 151 million euros (~$171 million) for the training of 3,215 Spanish students studying in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. Fellowship recipients, who may pursue any area of knowledge, must be Spanish citizens and are chosen based upon their merits and capabilities.