The Executive will contribute a total of 5.5 million euros over four years, practically twice as much as in the previous agreement

The Government has approved the new Contract with the Fundació Institució dels Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (Institució CERCA), through the ministries of Research and Universities, Health, Business and Labour, and Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, for the period 2024-2027.

The Executive will allocate a total of 5,552,298.32 euros to this agreement in order to guarantee the achievement of the objectives and purposes of the Foundation in its function of providing support to the CERCA research centres. This contribution represents a significant increase that practically doubles that of the previous contract for the period 2020-2023, which amounted to 2,316,000 euros.

The main contribution to the CERCA Foundation’s budget is made by the Ministry of Research and Universities, with a total of 4,456,298.23 euros. This is followed by the Ministry of Health (496,000 euros), Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda Ministry, and Business and Labour with 300,000 euros each.

The objectives of the agreement are structured around five major focus, with indicators for each block that will allow the degree of achievement to be determined annually. These five sections correspond to the organizational, administrative and economic axis; of internationalization; of transfer; promotion and visibility, and evaluation and impact.

The new contract for the period 2024-2027 also foresees the creation of a monitoring commission in order to ensure its correct development. This commission, which will be chaired by the Director General of Research, will analyse the actions of the CERCA Institution after each financial year and will evaluate the degree of fulfilment of the set objectives.

The Minister of Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal, the Director General of Research Joan Gómez Pallarès and the Director of CERCA, Laia Pellejà, met today with the directors of the 42 centres that are part of the CERCA system. Nadal congratulated the centres that have recently achieved the distinction of Severo Ochoa centres of excellence and highlighted the positive spiral of the CERCA system.

The new Director, Laia Pellejà, took the opportunity to outline some points of her project, which begins with getting to know “the centres, their research, histories, and concerns” in detail. Among the priorities is the renewal of the assessment system, which will be worked on jointly with the centres. At the same time, she wants the institution to be seen as a reference point that helps to resolve doubts and implement joint policies.

With a clear international orientation, Pellejà emphasised the prominent position of the CERCA system in global rankings, stating that “as a system, we are unstoppable.” However, she recognises the need to increase the visibility of the centres among the public, and therefore, she will emphasise communication so that students and future researchers become familiar with and embrace the system. Alongside the science law, Pellejà will also implement language policies, gender equality plans, and technology transfer plans.

Doctor in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and Master in Public Management, Pellejà was until now the manager of the ICIQ-CERCA Research Centre in Tarragona

Dr Laia Pellejà i Puxeu will take over the management of the CERCA Institute, as of 1 March, after the Board of Trustees approved the appointment proposal made by the Catalan Minister of Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal i Farreras.

Born in Tarragona in 1979, Laia Pellejà holds a degree in Chemistry from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and a master and doctorate in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the same university. She also holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the School of Public Administration of Catalonia (EAPC) and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).

Her professional career has been developed mainly in various positions of responsibility at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ-CERCA), where he has been manager since 2020 until now. Previously, she was responsible for the area of Scientific Dissemination and Training between 2014 and 2020 and was a laboratory engineer (2010-2014) and project researcher (2005-2009).

The new director of CERCA is also a member of the Content and Programme Advisory Council of the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation, of the Community of Practice for the Evaluation of Public Policies of the Government of Catalonia (CoAVA) and of the current board of the Catalan Society of Chemistry. She has also co-authored a patent and has 17 publications in international scientific journals.

Pellejà will succeed Dr Lluís Rovira i Pato, who has held this position the last 13 years, from 2011 to 2024.

Activities focus on commercialization, innovation and transfer. The first session is dedicated to the new patent system in Europe.

Throughout 2024, I-CERCA will develop activities to promote and communicate the transfer of knowledge within the CERCA System. These activities are related to the Strategic Plan for Innovation and Knowledge Transfer promoted by the Research and Universities Ministry through the Directorate General of Transfer and Knowledge Society.

A fundamental part of the program is based in the training and qualification of the personnel who work at the transfer units of the CERCA centres. This group, set up as a Transfer Community, will meet every month to exchange experiences, success stories and best practices.

First session was led by Enric Carbonell, European patent agent and partner in the Barcelona office of ABG Intellectual Property with whom I-CERCA has signed a collaboration agreement. ABG IP is a leading European firm in industrial property and will be preparing a series of informative pills to promote the use of patents and trademarks.

Because of recent changes in the patent system in Europe, it is possible to request that European patents have a unitary effect after being granted; therefore, legal protection of inventions is valid through a single procedure in the 17 member states of the EU.

Alexandra Romero, from The Collider program of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, also participated in the session. She focused on the development of the program linked to the Venture Building of the European Innovation Council (EIC in its English acronym) and its need for investment capital.

Anabel Sanz, head of the technology and business development office of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), explained the internal organization and the challenges faced by her unit.

New unitary patent System

Until its implementation, this procedure could only be carried out country by country in those states in which the holder desired to be patented. In fact, the procedure is still the most convenient in some cases and it is the only option for a European patent to be valid in Spain, which remains outside the system. Enric Carbonell pointed out that Spain is not part of the unitary patent, but this doesn’t prevent Catalan innovative organizations from opting for it.

The new patent system means lower costs, less paperwork and reduced administrative burden for innovators but a series of risks and conditions must also be taken into account. In the training session, Enric Carbonell explained the positive aspects and the drawbacks, offering a strategic vision for the future of organizations’ projects.

The second edition of the Àgora program was inaugurated today with a presentation dedicated to the Charter and Code of Conduct for research staff.

The session, led by Dr Michele Rosa-Clot, manager of the HRS4R portfolio at the European Commission’s General Directorate for Research and Innovation, addressed the evolution of the Charter and the Code of Conduct and its implementation mechanism, the Human Resources strategy for Researchers (HRS4R), in its current format.

Dr Rosa-Clot also discussed the future evolution of the program focusing on the proposed recommendation recently adopted by the Council on a European framework to attract and retain talent in the field of research, innovation and entrepreneurship in europe.

Àgora is a management development program aimed at the management of CERCA centers that offers monthly debate and exchange sessions with experts from different fields on the most relevant topics that may affect the management of the centers.

The following sessions planned for this year will revolve around the State’s funding programs and, in particular, the Severo Ochoa Program, the supervision exercised by the Audit Office on the performance of the CERCA centers and the creation of Groups of Economic Interest (AIE).