The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities has recently published the results of Spain’s participation in the EU’s Horizon Europe R&D&I Framework Programme, in which IBEC stands out as the fifth research institution in the country with the highest return.
The Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is one of the top five Spanish research institutions in terms of financial return in the Horizon Europe programme (2021-2023). According to the report published by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, IBEC ranks fifth with 22 funded activities, 11 of them as coordinator, making it the smallest centre by number of researchers in the top five. This achievement highlights IBEC’s central role in research and innovation at European level.
IBEC’s participation in European Research Council (ERC) grants, a key component of Horizon Europe, is particularly noteworthy. These grants, aimed at funding frontier research in various disciplines, have consolidated Spain as the fourth country in the EU-27 in terms of return in this category, with 8.3% of the European budget. Among the ten most successful Spanish ERC grantees, IBEC and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) are the only Spanish research centres, highlighting their uniqueness and excellence at the national and international level.
Since 2014, with the launch of the Horizon 2020 programme, IBEC has consistently been among the top five returners in Spain. This achievement reflects its outstanding performance in attracting European funding and underlines the importance of this funding in consolidating its international leadership in bioengineering.
A key factor in this success is a project-based management model. IBEC’s entire management staff structure is organised around the different stages of research projects, in a unique approach that has inspired other research centres. At the heart of this structure is the Project Management Office, made up of project managers with PhDs in a range of scientific disciplines. This team provides technical and management support to the group leaders in the acquisition and management of resources and assigns a specialised manager to each research group.
This success is also due to the work of IBEC’s Strategy Team, which has managed institutional projects such as COFUND and partnerships with international institutions, as well as contributing to positioning in European networks such as IBISBA, EBRAINS and EIT Health.
These data form part of the analysis of Spain’s participation in Horizon Europe, the European Union’s R&D&I framework programme for the period 2021-2027, which has a total budget of 95.5 billion euros. In the first three years, Spain has achieved a record financial return of €3,416.9 million, making it the third country with the highest return after Germany and France.
