Empire Rising: Spain

In order to effectively promote the improvement of Spain’s medical environment, Carlo decided to increase support for medical development and establish relevant awards as a means of support.

As mentioned before, Carlo has also set up related innovation awards in the industrial sector, but these have always been small awards, aimed only at fostering innovation among small and medium enterprises.

This time, regarding the awards to promote medical development, Carlo decided to completely emulate the future Nobel Prize, establishing a famous award that, when awarded, would cause a sensation across Europe and even the entire world.

If this newly established award is to cause a sensation in Europe, generous rewards are indispensable.

The award that is about to be established has six categories: Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology.

Winning any of these awards would bring a cash prize of up to 800,000 Pessetas and other rewards, with the total value of all rewards reaching as high as one million Pessetas.

According to the exchange rate between Pesseta and Pounds, winning any of these awards would mean receiving more than 50,000 Pounds alone in funding.

This is not a small amount, enough to attract any research organization, company, or individual globally.

The total prize money for the six awards amounts to 4.8 million Pessetas, which converts to 300,000 Pounds, and even just this funding is enough to cause a sensation across Europe.

It is worth noting that the famed Nobel Prize in later generations initially derived its funding from the interest generated by Alfred Nobel’s 9.2 million USD estate.

The prize money for the first Nobel Prize was approximately 200,000 USD, which converted to only 40,000 Pounds. Compared to the 300,000 Pounds prize established by Carlo, even the Nobel Prize would have to take a back seat.

Such generous prize money alone is enough to make this award famous throughout Europe in a short time.

Yet, the generous prize money is just the first step in Carlo’s establishment of the award. The second step involves continuous promotion of this newly established award, so that every scientific researcher and industry personnel across the globe take pride in winning it.

The new award is named the Carlo Award by Carlo himself, to quickly raise its reputation.

Of course, Carlo also has his personal motives. Once the Carlo Award successfully becomes one of the top academic awards worldwide, the name Carlo would also become well-known and be remembered for hundreds of years.

Just like the later Nobel Prize, which made Nobel well-known. Naming an award after a person is an honor, as seen in famous awards like the Nobel Prize and the Turing Award.

When people in future generations talk about the Carlo Award, they will also remember a King of Spain named Carlo from a century ago. It was he who established the Carlo Award at great expense, thereby promoting human scientific and technological progress.

This enormous enhancement in prestige is also beneficial for the Royal Family. As the first King of the Spanish Savoy Dynasty, Carlo’s reputation is crucial to the survival of the Spanish Savoy Dynasty.

As long as Carlo enjoys great prestige among the people, the Savoy Family would have very high support rates in Spain. Even if, in the future, unforeseen events lead to the overthrowing of the throne, they can still seek the help of the Royalist Party to reclaim the throne of Spain.

The purpose of Carlo establishing this award, besides promoting medical progress, is to ensure that in the coming decades or centuries, the award continuously draws elite talents from various fields to Spain.

Thus, attracting these award winners also needs a grand statement.

If a Spaniard wins the Carlo Award, besides receiving the 800,000 Pesseta cash prize, they would also receive a personal meeting with Carlo, a property in any city in Spain, 50 acres of land, and a medal award.

Winners of research-related awards can also make free use of Spain’s top laboratories and gain the qualification to enter the Royal Academy of Sciences.

If a foreigner wins the Carlo Award, they can directly apply for Spanish nationality. After gaining Spanish nationality, they would enjoy the same treatment as Spanish award winners.

Of course, even if these foreign award winners do not wish to obtain Spanish nationality, as long as they are willing to work part-time at various universities in Spain, they can still use Spain’s top laboratories and related materials.

If these award winners wish to join the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, their research funding will also be elevated by several levels.

In general, whether in terms of material rewards or research assistance, the Carlo Award has already achieved perfection.

Using this award to attract talent to Spain, it is not to say that all winners will be recruited, but at least more than half of the winners will choose to embrace Spain.

Of course, there are some scientists who prioritize their country above all else, who may remain unmoved by Spain’s overtures.

But these people are always the minority; as long as most of the Carlo Award winners are brought under one’s banner, Carlo’s plan for this award would be fulfilled.

To ensure that the Carlo Award can operate long-term like the Nobel Prize in later generations, instead of relying on his own annual funding, Carlo decided to establish a Carlo Award awarding evaluation committee and award operation company, specifically responsible for the annual awarding of the Carlo Award and the distribution of monetary rewards.

In order to maintain the award’s reputation, Carlo does not plan to reduce the award’s prize money in the short term. This also means that each year, just awarding prize money would require at least 4.8 million Pessetas, which is not a small expenditure.