Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
09/17/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2025 11:47
Ian Watson, guest speaker at the Miquel Barceló UPC Science Fiction Award ceremony Sep 17, 2025
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Ian Watson, guest speaker at the Miquel Barceló UPC Science Fiction Award ceremony
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Photo caption: Writer Ian Watson. Image: Cristina Macía
The UPC's science fiction collection
The UPC's science fiction collection consists of more than 9,500 documents, expanded over the years with comics, films and television series. The collection is housed at the Rector Gabriel Ferraté Library, the Vilanova i la Geltrú School of Engineering Library and the Terrassa Campus Library. It can also be accessed online through the website Science Fiction at the UPC.
British science fiction writer Ian Watson has given the lecture "I have no idea" on the UPC's North Diagonal Campus on Wednesday 17 September. The event has taken place as part of the 27th Miquel Barceló UPC Science Fiction Award ceremony. This year's prize has been awarded 'ex aequo' to writers Miguel Ángel López Muñoz and Raúl Gonzálvez del Águila.
Sep 17, 2025
With more than 30 novels spanning science fiction, fantasy and horror, 15 short story collections and one poetry book, Ian Watson is an internationally renowned figure in science fiction. As part of the 27th Miquel Barceló UPC Science Fiction Award ceremony, he has presented his lecture "I have no idea" at the lecture hall of the Barcelona School of Informatics of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) on 17 September.
Biography of Ian Watson
Alongside Watson, the event has included speeches by the UPC rector, Francesc Torres; the dean of the FIB, Anna Rio; and Jordi José, a professor and deputy director of the Barcelona East School of Engineering and president of the award jury. This year's winners, Miguel Ángel López and Raúl Gonzálvez, has also taken part, and Montserrat Guàrdia, the president of the UPC's Board of Trustees, has closed the ceremony.
Miguel Ángel López and Raúl Gonzálvez, joint winners
At the 17 September ceremony, the 27th UPC Science Fiction Award has been presented to writers Miguel Ángel López Muñoz and Raúl Gonzálvez del Águila, who have won the prize ex aequo for their novels La Semana de los Tecnoorgas and Rompenieblas en el abismo, respectively.
The award carries a €2,000 prize and includes the editing and publication of the winning works in digital and print formats by the UPC and Apache Libros, a publisher specialising in science fiction, horror and illustrated books.
In this edition, 70 works were submitted, from Spain, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Cuba. In addition to the two winning novels, the jury awarded special mentions to Los últimos días de la Argos, by Jesús Prieto Sánchez from Málaga, and Greta y el hipopótamo, by Pascual Díaz García-Baltasar from Madrid. The jury was made up of UPC faculty members connected to science fiction from different perspectives: Lluís Anglada, Josep Casanovas, Carme Gallego, Jordi José, Manuel Moreno and Joan Manel Ortiz.
Award in tribute to Miquel Barceló
The UPC Science Fiction Award was created in 1991 by the UPC's Board of Trustees as part of its cultural and artistic promotion programme. It has become one of the leading awards in Spain in this field. Proof of this, and of the growing interest in the genre, is the nearly 2,400 works presented throughout its history.
The award pays tribute to Miquel Barceló, a professor at the FIB, who stood out as an editor, translator and writer specialising in science fiction. Barceló was the driving force behind the UPC Science Fiction Award, which has borne his name since 2022.
The UPC's science fiction collection
The UPC's science fiction collection consists of more than 9,500 documents, expanded over the years with comics, films and television series. The collection is housed at the Rector Gabriel Ferraté Library, the Vilanova i la Geltrú School of Engineering Library and the Terrassa Campus Library. It can also be accessed online through the website Science Fiction at the UPC.
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