Seville, 5 October 2007.- One year after it was founded in 1982, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation created its Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis on a Sevillian Theme, an award that is now it its 24th edition and reflects the Foundation’s commitment to promoting culture, especially the culture of Seville.

Training people is one of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation’s top priorities, hence its ongoing efforts to promote education, help research and recognise activities related to these fields. The Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis on a Sevillian Theme not only comes with a monetary award of 3,000 euros but also involves publishing the work to ensure that it gets the widest audience and social recognition possible.

The exhaustive study of the biographical and literary relations between Andalusian poet and 1956 Nobel Literature Prize Winner Juan Ramón Jiménez and the city of Seville earned Rocío Fernández Berrocal the Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis in its last edition. From this study entitled "Juan Ramón Jiménez and Seville", the jury spotlighted the vital point of reference that the city of Seville played for the poet from Morguer, especially in two of his books: "Sevilla" and "Diario de un poeta recién casado" ("Diary of a Newlywed Poet").

Anyone who has read their thesis during academic year 2006-2007 may apply for the prize. The application period ends on 15th October. To find out about the conditions of the prize, please contact the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, Hospital de los Venerables, Plaza de los Venerables, 8. 41004 Seville. E-mail: focus@abengoa.com. (www.focus.abengoa.es).

The jury, appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, will decide on the prize winner by 15th December.

The Focus-Abengoa Foundation was founded in 1982 as the result of the cultural efforts that got underway in 1972 when Abengoa published the works “Sevillian Topics” and “Iconography of Seville”. During this same period, a collection of documents, books and engravings either on the Kingdom of Seville or by Sevillian authors also began to be amassed. This initial cultural endeavour showed the leaders of Abengoa the importance of being visible beyond its essential technical functions with an activity that would benefit society, and thus the Fundación Fondo de Cultura of Seville (FOCUS) was founded.