Josep Samitier will step down as Director of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) on 31 December 2025. Under his leadership since 2013, IBEC has become a leading institution in Spain for research excellence in bioengineering. Manuel Salmeron, an ICREA Research Professor at IBEC, will take over as interim director at the request of the Institute’s board of trustees.
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) will promote the ‘Creation of new IBEC spaces for the Bioengineering for Sustainability Research Programme’ (BESOS-IBEC) project thanks to a Singular Institutional Grant. This grant is promoted by the Department of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has received funding through the Spanish State Research Agency’s 2025 call for proposals for the preparation and management of European projects and attraction of international talent. This funding will allow IBEC to launch the HE-mPOwer project, a strategic initiative designed to strengthen the institute’s internationalisation and increase its competitiveness within the Horizon Europe programme.
The researcher at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant. This prestigious European funding supports excellent scientists and scholars who are consolidating their independent research teams to pursue their most promising scientific ideas. The €2.8 million SPINECRAFT grant, awarded for five years, will enable Álvarez and her team to build a high-fidelity, 4D human spinal cord model using advanced bioprinting and patient-derived cells. This platform aims to transform the study of spinal cord biology, neurodegenerative disorders, and regenerative therapies, setting the stage for breakthroughs previously out of reach.
The SPM4.0 consortium convened at Charité–Berlin for its first training workshop and mid-term meeting, reinforcing scientific collaboration and supporting the development of the project’s doctoral researchers. The sessions offered a comprehensive overview of ongoing scientific progress and future training activities. This milestone moment further strengthened coordination across the network and set the pace for upcoming project objectives.
Barcelona hosted the third IBEC-WCH Precision Medicine Conference this week, an event that further strengthened the strategic alliance between the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the West China Hospital of Sichuan University (WCHSU). The Chinese delegation visited Spain from 26 to 29 November, taking part in a busy schedule of scientific and institutional activities and exchanges between the two centres.
Zaida Álvarez Pinto, a Principal Investigator at IBEC, will lead a biomedical research project that was selected in the 2025 edition of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation’s Health Research Call for Proposals. The project, which will be carried out in consortium with IDIBELL, the University of Barcelona, the National Spinal Cord Injury Hospital Foundation and the Spinal Cord Injury Foundation, will focus on the development of a new platform for testing treatments for spinal cord injuries.
By joining this initiative, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is strengthening its commitment to gender equality and to encouraging girls and young women to pursue STEAM careers, thereby helping to eliminate stereotypes and reduce the gender gap in science and technology.
Yesterday, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) brought together around twenty artists and scientists for a co-creation hackathon as part of its new ‘Open Dialogues’ initiative. Following the event, two pairs of artists and scientists were selected to collaborate on developing two projects based on IBEC research over the next five months.
On 17 November, the closing ceremony of the Complementary Plan for Biotechnology Applied to Health was held. This plan was coordinated by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). The event brought together institutional representatives, researchers, and key figures from the Spanish biomedical community to celebrate over three years of collaborative efforts to promote personalised and precision medicine in Spain.