Launch of the “Alliance of Severo Ochoa centers and María de Maeztu units”

Yesterday, the 25 centers and 16 units accredited by “Severo Ochoa Excellence” and “María de Maeztu Excellence” formalized the creation of Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu alliance (SOMMa) in its first official meeting. Chaired by the Secretary of State of R+D+i Carmen Vela, directors and representatives from the centers and units approved the alliance creation and the strategic and work plan for the following months.

“The excellence attracts excellence, and therefore the alliance is a step toward generating synergies and strengthening the quality of research Severo Ochoa centers and María de Maeztu units”, Carmen Vela assured, Secretary of State of R+D+i. “The future of impactful research and innovation in Spain and Europe lies in the convergence of technologies, methodologies and disciplines capable to develop ambitious projects performed in cooperation among different institutions. This alliance is a big step on this direction to strengthen the collaborations between excellence centers and units we have in Spain”, said Vela.

The following two years Luis Serrano, director of the Center for Genomic Regulation, will head the SOMMa and Teresa Garcia-Milà, director of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics will be its vice-president. “The alliances in science are always positive and to join efforts enriches the R+D+I ecosystem”, affirms Luis Serrano.

SOMMa aims to increase the national and international visibility of science in Spain, to promote the exchanging of knowledge, technology and good practices between its members, the international community; establish collaborations with the rest of Spanish research centers to strengthen the R+D+i system and to have a voice on Spanish and European science politics. Different work groups were created to achieve all these objectives.

Ready for first actions

Soon, the website www.somma-excellence.es will gather all the information about SOMMa. It pretends to be a window to excellence science in Spain and a resource to the science community, science politics responsibles , journalists and general public.

Moreover, SOMMa will organize the future editions of 100xCiencia conferences. The second edition under the title “Co-creating Value in Scientific Research” will take place on November 2^nd and 3^rd in Alicante and it will be focused on the knowledge transfer and its promotion to the society.

About the Severo Ochoa Centres María de Maeztu Units of Excellence

The centres and units of the alliance cover a broad range of scientific disciplines, from biology and medicine, to mathematics, chemistry, physics, engineering, economics and social sciences.

According to their classifications by  scientific area, the accredited organizations participating in the alliance are:

• Life Sciences
  • Centres
    • Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) – www.cnic.es
    • Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) – www.cnio.es
    • Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) – www.irbbarcelona.org
    • Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) – www.crg.eu
    • Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP) – www.cbgp.upm.es/
    • National Center for Biotechnology (CNB) – www.cnb.csic.es/
    • Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante (IN) – in.umh.es/
    • Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) – www.ibecbarcelona.eu
    • Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) – www.cragenomica.es/es
    • Centre for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) – www.cicbiogune.es/
  • Units
    • Department of Experimental and Health Sciences (DCEXS) – www.upf.edu/cexs/
    • Structural Biology Unit (SBU) – www.sbu.csic.es/
    • Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) – ictaweb.uab.cat
    • Departamento de Regulación Génica y Morfogénesis (GEM) – www.cabd.es

• Mathematics, Experimental Sciences and Engineering
  • Centres
    • Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) – www.bsc.es
    • Institute of Mathematical Sciences – www.icmat.es
    • Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM) – www.bcamath.org/es/
    • Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) – www.iac.es
    • Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) – www.icfo.es
    • Institute for Theoretical Physics (IFT) www.ift.uam.es
    • Institute for High Energy Physics (IFAE) – www.ifae.es
    • Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC) – http://webific.ific.uv.es
    • Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ) itq.upv-csic.es
    • Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) – www.iciq.es
    • Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) – www.icn.cat
    • Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB) – www.icmab.es
    • Nanoscience Institute (IMDEA) – http://nanoscience.imdea.org
  • Units
    • Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath) – www.bgsmath.cat/
    • Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC) – www.uam.es/ifimac/
    • Particle Physics- www.ciemat.es
    • Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB) – http://icc.ub.edu/
    • Institute of Molecular Science (ICMOL) – www.icmol.es
    • Information and Communication Technologies Engineering Department (DTIC-UPF) – https://www.upf.edu/web/etic
    • Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (IRI, CSIC-UPC) – http://www.iri.upc.edu/
    • Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE) (IGFAE) – www.usc.gal/es/institutos/fisica_ae/index.html
    • Signal Theory and Communications Department (COMMSENSLAB) – www.upc.edu/
    • CIC nanoGUNE Association – www.nanogune.eu
• Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Centres
    • Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE) – www.barcelonagse.eu
    • Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL) – www.bcbl.eu
  • Units
    • Department of Economy – www.eco.uc3m.es/

Center for Monetary and Financial Sid (CEMFI) http://www.cemfi.es/