The Albanian Academy of Sciences congratulated the Academician Nazim Gruda for being recognized as a ‘Distinguished Investigator’ by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena in Spain.

The appointment of the Albanian academic follows the call made by the Ministry of Universities of Spain through the project titled ‘Modernization and Digitization of the Educational System.’ This initiative is part of the recovery, transformation, and resilience plan for science and higher education aimed at attracting talented scientists from Europe.

This selection allows Academician Gruda to further pursue his studies and collaborations with UPCT, building on a longstanding history of cooperation that spans several years. This collaboration encompasses various research projects and joint publications. Moreover, in 2021, he served as a lecturer as part of the Erasmus exchange program.

Despite being the youngest technical university in Spain, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) boasts schools with foundations dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. UPCT is a member of the UP4 association, alongside the Polytechnic Universities of Madrid, Catalonia, and Valencia.

Renowned for his expertise in horticulture and specialization in plant substrates, Academician Gruda will hold a pivotal role in the project focused on advancing urban horticulture and ‘vertical farming’.

Academician Gruda authored more than 300 scientific papers, including 100 indexed in Scopus, establishing him as a researcher with papers holding a notably high citation index.

Furthermore, in recent evaluations by experts at Stanford University in the USA, he has been placed within the top 2% of the most influential scientists in the ‘World’s Top 2 percent Scientists.’ Additionally, according to the ‘Google Scholar’ index for horticulture, he ranks among the ten most accomplished scientists in Europe.

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