Franco-Argentine Innovation Distinction 2026 announces winners

The tenth edition of the Franco-Argentine Innovation Distinction 2026 has announced its winners at the French Embassy. The awards, organized by CONICET, the Institut français d’Argentine, and TotalEnergies in Argentina, recognized 41 projects focused on energy transition, air quality, and plastic reduction.

In the senior category, Ricardo Negri of CONICET (INQUIMAE, CONICET-UBA) won for his project on circular lithium recovery from spent batteries using biomass. Other senior finalists included Carla Giacomelli, who proposed producing bioplastics from bioethanol byproducts, and Fabricio Darío Cassan.

In the junior category, Melina Nisenbaum from the National University of Mar del Plata was honored for her work on biofabricating bacterial cellulose from industrial waste to create flexible biomaterials as substitutes for synthetic plastics.