Three young researchers awarded the Indena Biagio Alberto Della Beffa prize

Milan, 8^th July 2021 –Indena is proud to announce that three young researchers have been awarded the “Indena - Biagio Alberto Della Beffa” prize, dedicated to the memory of its founder Colonel Biagio Alberto Della Beffa.

On the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of its foundation, Indena has instituted the biennial prize “Indena - Biagio Alberto della Beffa”. Its first edition has been celebrated on July the 8^th 2021, during the closing ceremony of the International Summer School on Natural Products - ISSNP.

Indena is partnering with ISSNP in identifying the most talented scientists in natural product chemistry and selecting the best applicants, in the spirit of a fruitful collaboration between Industry and Academia.

The 2021 edition of the prize has been reserved to post-graduated Chemists and Pharmaceutical Chemists to reward and support the professional development of young talented scientists in Natural Product Chemistry.

“We’re very happy for the success of our initiative: many young talented researchers applied from different Italian and international Universities, showing that the interest for Natural Product Chemistry is high among our graduated young people – says Pietro Allegrini, R&D Director at Indena SpA – We’re proud to give such opportunities to students from all over the world, in the memory of our founder Biagio Alberto Della Beffa and of his pioneering vision”. Francesca De Rensis, Marketing Director at Indena SpA continues: “The prize has been instituted in the year of Indena’s Centennial and it’s an initiative that further testifies Indena’s commitment to invest in young researchers as managers and source of innovation for the future”.

“The three winners have been selected among 24 distinguished candidates with high-level competences, strong determination for scientific career and passion for natural products – underlines Gabriele Fontana, Business & Innovation Intelligence Director at Indena SpA - Moreover, it is very important to highlight that one of the salient features of the winners is given by their different areas of competence which, in a virtual circle, will in turn nourish the knowledge of Indena”.

The first of the three winners is a PhD student at the University of Pavia. During her career she has worked in Nature-aided drug discovery, developing experience in bio-guided fractionation, isolation, structural elucidation and chemical derivatization of active metabolites.

The second one is a PhD candidate at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. During her career she has worked in food and food ingredients analytical chemistry, developing also significant experience in advanced metabolomics techniques.

The third one is a PhD student at the University of Naples Federico II where she is developing a significant experience in the structural elucidation of complex molecular entities, in particular through high field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.

The winners have been awarded a monetary prize, an internship at Indena’s R&D center and a managerial training at one of the most prestigious Italian universities.

The internship, together with the managerial learnings, will give the opportunity to grow not only in industrial research but also in general management.

Furthermore, the winners will give a presentation during the Scientific Congress that Indena will hold on November the 8th 2021 to celebrate its Centennial. The Congress will be a match of past and future, the perfect occasion to celebrate successful people and facts which have been protagonists in Indena’s history, as well as celebrating and supporting the talents of the future.