Pedro Miguel Etxenike awarded the 2023 NIE Prize

The President of the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) has received the 2023 NIE Prize from the Federation of Ikastolas of Navarre.

Pedro Miguel Etxenike has received this recognition for his contribution to Science and his research work, and for according the Basque language its rightful place and promoting its use, among other things.

Donostia-San Sebastian. 19 January, 2024. Yesterday, the President of the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) received the 2023 NIE Prize, awarded by the Federation of Ikastolas (Basque-medium schools) of Navarre every year, for his contributions to Science and his research work, for according the Basque language its rightful place and promoting its use, for his courageous defence of learning, work, research and use of Science in Basque, for his reflections and articles on Education, for encouraging a spirit of criticism among students and for his knowledge and masterly expression of the learning process of today's students, and for his ever firm commitment to the ikastola movement.

One of the aims of the Federation of Ikastolas of Navarre (NIE) is to promote the Basque language and culture, linking both to educational and social development. In this respect, each year it awards the NIE prizes to people or organizations that have contributed towards meeting these objectives.

The award was presented by Elena Zabaleta and Josu Reparaz, president and director, respectively, of the Federation of Ikastolas of Navarre. The event was attended by institutional representatives: Mikel Irujo, Minister of Industry and Ecological and Digital Business Transition; Jabi Arakama, managing director of Euskarabidea; family and friends of Pedro Miguel Etxenike, and representatives of the ikastolas of Navarra. Also in attendance were previous winners such as Carlos Garaikoetxea. During the ceremony, the children's choir of Paz de Ziganda Ikastola could be heard and the dantzari Ainhoa Egizabal could enjoy the honorary aurresku.

The Navarrese physicist, born in Isaba in 1950, is regarded as one of the key scientists in Physics research on a global level, and has a far-reaching track record in time and space, in development and causality, while brimming with qualifications, prizes, positions and publications; with ideas and experiences; with certainties and doubts.

Some of these recognitions, which we know he received with particular enthusiasm because he was being acknowledged by the land of his birth, include the Prince of Viana Prize for Culture, the Key to the Town of Isaba, the Manuel de Irujo Award, an Honorary Doctorate from the UPNA (Public University of Navarre), and the Gold Medal of Navarre.
And mention has to be made of some of the numerous other awards: Universal Basque award in 1998, appointment as a full academician of the Spanish Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, the Max Planck Prize in Physics and the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.
The son of Pedro Miguel Etxenike, a doctor from the Roncal valley, and Felisa Landiribar, a teacher at the San Fermín Ikastola until she retired, he has, just like the ikastolas, been calling for openness to the world, but without forgetting one's roots or that scientific progress is a racing boat whose crew “rows forwards while looking back”, taking past knowledge as the basis at all times. Throughout his long career, he has argued that education is the best investment in a country’s or a society’s future, and that a country like ours can only compete in the world if quality and education are its first priority.

According to Etxenike, there are cultures in the world that have contributed technology and knowledge, but the European contribution to the world is human rights, and this is where the right to education is embedded. Education is solidarity with the future. And equity. Equity and solidarity with the future. In the 1980s there was a break in his research career, and his commitment to the country led him to enter politics as Regional Minister of Education and Culture.

Professor Etxenike was thrilled to receive this award. “It is an honour to receive this award”. In his thanks, he spoke in defence of the Basque language: "We don't just need laws for the Basque language, we need to foster love for the Basque language through culture".