Among all the thesis defended during the academic year 2019-2020, some of them were given the maximum grade, "Excellent Cum Laude". Among these, a small selection were chosen for the award by a jury of Professors. Juan Sánchez Baena was given the award within the category "Science". The award has been granted by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, in Barcelona, where he completed his PhD thesis, which is titled "Correlations in spin-orbit ultracold quantum gases" under the supervision of Prof. Jordi Boronat and Prof. Ferran Mazzanti. On 28 October 2022, a formal award ceremony will take place during which diplomas are given to honor the achievements within the different categories. A big congratulations goes out to Juan for receiving the Extraordinary doctoral award.