Gathered together in Oviedo, the Jury for the 1998 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, comprised of Emiliano Aguirre, José Luis Álvarez Margaride, Manuel Cardona, Antonio Cueto Espinar, Antonio Fernández-Rañada y Menéndez de Luarca, Alberto Galindo Tixaire, José Antonio Garrido, Miguel de Guzmán, Amable Liñán, Juan José López Ibor, César Nombela, Rafael Puyol, Julio Rodríguez Fernández, Raúl Villar, presided over by Julio Rodríguez Villanueva, and with José Antonio Martínez- Álvarez acting as secretary, has unanimously decided to grant the 1998 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research to physicists Pedro Miguel Etxenike Landiríbar and Emilio Méndez Pérez.

Full professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the University of the Basque Country in San Sebastian, Dr. Etxenike is a leading researcher in this field´s theoretical aspects. His most important discovery is the theoretical prediction of electronic image states in the surface of solids, in addition to important contributions made in the field of ion-material interactivity, electron energy loss in electronic microscopy, and the tunnelling effect. He created a scientific group in San Sebastian that heads international research in electronic microscopy, as well as an associate research unit of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research.

Dr. Méndez is a full professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the State University of New York. The experimental discovery of the so-called "Stark scales" and the first studies into the effect of "resonant tunnelling" are this award recipient´s main contributions. Furthermore, important patents for electronic devices have been derived from these findings. He collaborates closely in research and management activities with the Autonomous University of Madrid and the Spanish Council for Scientific Research.

Oviedo, 29 May 1998