The power of connections

Some people believe that success comes from individual talent, hard work and perseverance. However, those who’ve had the opportunity to form part of a supportive community, such as the network of "la Caixa" Foundation fellows, realise that the real professional and personal driving force is often something else, namely a connection with others and the fostering of relationships that can change lives.
In this article, we focus on the personal relationships that have been forged within the community of "la Caixa" Foundation fellows and on the potential of such connections to transform. We explain how they influence the professional and personal growth of many of our fellows and in very different ways. Mentoring, collaborations and shared projects. Friendships that transcend borders and even a romance! A wealth of connections that reveal stories of challenges being overcome; stories that would never have been written individually.
Would you like to hear more?
The value of experience
Embarking on an academic career isn’t easy. Young people have to take a large number of vital decisions that can determine their future. Choosing their first project, field of specialisation or position of responsibility are just a few examples of the complex web of decisions taken at this early stage.
Thanks to the mentoring that forms part of "la Caixa" Foundation’s Fellowship programme, there are many inspiring stories that show just how important it is to have the right support; the assistance of someone who’s travelled a similar path and knows how to tackle these steps wisely. But, above all, someone to help you enjoy the journey to the full and ease the path towards your ultimate goal.
In 2017, Alejandro González Tudela decided to place his experience at the disposal of the young Javier Argüello Luengo, while they were both working at the Max Planck Institute in Munich. A year later, when Alejandro decided to go back to Spain to carry out research, Javier was able to accompany him thanks to a doctoral fellowship. Their relationship allowed Javier "to learn through experience about the field of quantum technologies, as well as about how the world of research works".
From then on it was clear to Javier that he was going to continue the chain of helping others, making the most of his experience. That’s why he agreed to become a mentor for Joaquín Márquez Olguín. "It seemed like a good opportunity to support a student starting out in the world of physics, in the same way that Alejandro had with me" says Javier.
Javier Argüello Luengo
Joaquín couldn't be more grateful: "The first few years of university can be overwhelming, especially when you move to a new city and have to get used to a very different educational system”. Joaquín admits that "from the beginning, Javier's advice was fundamental", helping him get to grips with the academic environment and even apply for grants and internships that have been crucial for his career. "Even when he couldn't help me with more specific issues, Javier put me in touch with other fellows who’ve been just as kind and accessible" adds Joaquín. Inspired by his mentor's recommendations, he recently contacted Alejandro, who agreed to supervise him in an extracurricular project focusing on the design of quantum algorithms. In this way, they’ve managed to close the valuable circle of mentoring, knowledge transfer and collaboration that, so far, has connected three generations of fellows.
Role models have been vital for Alejandro, Javier and Joaquín, pointing out the opportunities open to them at all times. "It’s been incredibly gratifying to support each other at key stages in our careers. Joaquín is considering going into quantum technology research, just as I did when I met Alejandro, and I can't help feeling a certain pride and responsibility for that" says Javier.
It’s lonely on the way up
Mutual support and collaboration between colleagues is necessary in any field. But even more so in the world of music. In this extremely individual and often solitary discipline, having someone who understands both the challenges and joys of the process can make a big difference.
Laia Puig Torné is a cellist, a teacher at the Conservatory of Music of Aragon and a member of the Freixas Trio. She was able to complete her studies in Berlin thanks to her "la Caixa" Foundation fellowship. For this reason, when she received an email inviting her to take part as a mentor and support clarinettist Bernat Buzzi Teixidó, she didn’t hesitate to accept. "I would have loved to have had a mentor during my studies, someone I could talk to in confidence about the doubts you have when you’re developing your career" says Laia.
Bernat Buzzi, Sira Pellicer and Laia Puig
Bernat is full of praise when talking about his mentor: "I feel that, thanks to this mentoring relationship, I’ve gained both the contact and esteem of a nationally renowned musician like Laia. It’s given a significant boost to my professional development and is a great reminder that individual growth is enhanced through collective support".
The satisfaction Laia felt while mentoring Bernat has meant that she’s currently repeating the experience with saxophonist and fellow Sira Pellicer Faus. "The mentoring has been a great help in overcoming many challenges, both personal and professional. Laia has a background very similar to mine, she understands my situation and knows the scenarios I face. Finding out about her experiences and sharing opinions and advice have given me a clearer perspective of my professional field and enabled me to set specific academic and professional goals" says Sira.
Bridging generations
For several years, the doctoral INPhINIT fellowships have acted as a bridge between generations. A connection between experienced researchers and young people starting out on their doctoral path through the tutorials that are set up. The outcome? Stories as inspiring as that of Camila Costa.
Camila studied physics at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon but soon realised she wanted to focus her career on more biological issues, so she contacted the person who would end up becoming her tutor, Pablo Sartori Velasco. Since then, this collaboration has not only supported Camila throughout her career but has also opened the doors of the Gulbenkian Institute, where she’s currently researching the swimming behaviour and metabolism of microbes. An opportunity which, Camila says, "I wouldn’t have had if it hadn’t been for Dr. Sartori's guidance".
Camila Costa
Another example is that of Montserrat Escobar Rosales, who, in 2022, whilst looking for a way to continue her research into brain tumour therapies, joined the ChemSynBio, research group, led by Benjamí Oller Salvia. Like Camila, Montserrat didn’t expect to feel the professional connection she found in the person directing her thesis at the time. "I was just looking for a place to do my PhD. But after some time under his supervision, I came to love the project and realised that Benjamí not only had the qualities I was looking for in a boss but was also a great mentor. Convinced of this, she looked for different sources of funding to pursue a PhD in her research group and, in 2023, she succeeded thanks to a doctoral INPhINIT fellowship.
Montserrat Escobar and Benjamí Oller
It was also a doctoral fellowship that led Arthur Cardoso Souto to delve further into the field of neuroscience, inspired by his grandmother's battle with Parkinson's disease. At the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute he was guided and supported by Ariadna Laguna Tuset, a senior researcher at the centre. "Ariadna was exceptionally supportive and genuinely helped me" Arthur explains, adding "I believe collaborations like this teach us things that go beyond what we can learn in a classroom or laboratory, enhancing us as professionals but above all as individuals”.
Arthur Cardoso Souto and Ariadna Laguna Tuset
United we stand
Relationships between fellows have also managed to transcend the academic sphere. Some of these connections, for example, have crystallised into important collaborative projects that continue to be successful today.
This is the case of film directors Elisa Lleras Frutos, Pablo Gómez Castro, Carlos Marqués Marcet, Elia Urquiza Castelló and David Martín Porras, who’d already studied together before receiving a fellowship from "la Caixa" Foundation. The group became closer during their time spent in the mecca of cinema, Los Angeles. "In a world as tough as the film industry, we had to unite and stick together. We began by meeting up for barbecues, something very typical in the US, and it all took off from there" says David.
David Martín Porras
They soon realised that talent, hard work and ambition weren’t enough. Without a bit of collaboration it was very difficult to move forward. So they decided to team up and create their own production company, La Panda Productions, "a joint platform that would enable us to grow and have creative control". The first project they launched was 10,000 km, a feature directed by Carlos in 2014. This debut film earned them numerous nominations and put them on the international map, setting the stage for many other successful series and films.
Another collaborative project was born as a result of the relationship between two fellows, this time in a field diametrically opposed to cinema: physics. This project is the symposium Gravity: Challenges beyond General Relativity. Pablo A. Cano Molina Niñirola and Robie Hennigar already knew of each other scientifically before they actually met in person. Some time before they became colleagues, competition had led their paths to cross. "Robie and his thesis supervisor published a paper on the same topic that my supervisor and I were working on. They narrowly beat us to it. We almost had a heart attack" says Pablo.
Although this might seem like a setback, they were able to turn their rivalry into a great personal and professional friendship. "After being rivals, it was clear that we were both interested in the same research topics and we’d be better off working together”.
Assistants to the "Gravity: Challenges beyond General Relativity" symposium
They soon decided to launch their project together. "We realised there was a considerable lack of congresses on gravity theories beyond Einstein. That's where the symposium comes in, a three-day workshop with the aim of bringing together scientists working on the classical, quantum and phenomenological aspects of gravity, beyond general relativity. The academic world is highly competitive and it’s very important to have a circle of close collaborators who provide a network of support and growth" says Pablo.
This was also the case for Laura Díaz Marugán, a researcher in a still relatively unknown field of biomedicine: the relationship between intestinal microbiota and the brain. In her search for specialists with complementary perspectives, she met Mireia Vallès Colomer, an expert in bioinformatics and microbiota. Their connection and shared enthusiasm led to a necessary collaboration: an informative interview open to the public, in which they combined their knowledge to explain how microbiota influence our physical and mental health. "Interviewing Dr. Vallès was an exceptional opportunity" explains Laura. "We not only share a passion for research but also a desire to highlight the role played by young women in science and to bring the latest advances in the field to Spanish-speaking audiences. One person can’t address all the different areas of knowledge. If we collaborate, individual experiences can be multiplied and reach a wider audience”.
We’re not alone
Last November, the tragedy of the floods deeply affected a large number of homes in the Valencia region and the community of fellows responded admirably to this tragedy. About 350 people got together in Boston to hold a solidarity paella. A gesture which, in addition to raising funds, was also a symbol of support and hope. Many of these were "la Caixa" Foundation fellows, connected by the WhatsApp group they’d set up to help new arrivals in the capital of Massachusetts.
Pilar Baldominos, a postgraduate fellow in the United States, recalls how "even before I’d found out that I’d been awarded the fellowship, I was already in the WhatsApp group, along with more than 50 other people who’d gone through the same thing as me. It was a huge help”.
Similarly, Pilar and Miguel Calvo Carrera got to know each other through the meet-ups for fellows and they soon became good friends. At the time, Miguel was studying for his postgraduate degree in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the same centre where fellows Javier Viaña Pérez and Marc de la Barrera Bardalet, also participants in the fund-raiser for the floods, were studying.
Pilar Baldominos and Miguel Calvo Carrera in the solidarity paella
Pilar highlights the important role played by the community in her academic and professional career. However, she concludes that "the most important contribution made by the fellows' network to my life has been and still is, without a doubt, on a personal level. The feeling of having a giant family of fellows around the world is the best thing of all”. Her words demonstrate that, in times of difficulty, solidarity and the support of others become a source of hope, reminding us that, although the journey may be tough, we’re not alone.
Connections beyond the professional
Our last story is perhaps the most personal of all, namely the one between Michael Abdul-Masih and Ana Escorza Santos. With their respective fellowships, these two scientists carry out research together at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and they are also a couple.
Ana admits that they consider themselves extremely lucky to have been awarded their fellowships at the same time as it’s "very rare, especially in the world of astrophysics, for both people in a couple to do their postdoctoral fellowships together". Although they started out as colleagues and friends, they soon realised that, in addition to astrophysics, they had many other things in common. "Eight years later, we're still together" says Ana. In addition to the love that unites them, both mention the mutual professional admiration they feel, which has also brought them closer together professionally, to the point of collaborating on numerous projects.
Michael Abdul-Masih and Ana Escorza Santos
The true value of the network
These are the achievements enjoyed by some of our fellows as they forge closer relationships with other members of the community. A wealth of connections that demonstrate how, behind every individual success, there’s an invisible but essential support network: a mentor who opens doors, a tutor who inspires, a friend who supports, a collaborator who transforms.
This is the true value of the "la Caixa" Foundation fellows’ network. Not just the talent of its individuals but the ties that bind them together and the boost provided by these connections to make life-transforming stories a reality.