If the year 2021 can be considered to have marked the turning point in the evolution of I-CERCA, advancing the system of centres towards a European model, the year 2022 has meant the consolidation of the research and development model in Catalonia with the approval of the Science Law on 21 December. The long-awaited new law provides the system and, therefore, the CERCA centres with the legal and economic tools necessary to develop and compete within the international scientific community and defines the CERCA centres and the Fundació Institució dels Centres de Recerca de Catalunya as members of the CERCA system.

This was also the year in which two training actions were launched that will define the evolution of the system in the coming years. The first is the ÀGORA training program, aimed at the management group of the centres. The program includes different topics of interest ranging from the update in labour legislation to the push for internationalization, the diversification of funding sources, the implementation of the Responsible Research and Innovation agenda (RRI) in the centres or the improvement of citizen participation in research and innovation.

The second program launched is aimed at those responsible for the research impact strategy. The aim of this activity is to train this group of professionals to develop good impact narratives with a view to 2024, the year in which a new call for impact assessment (RIA) is planned.

In summary, the action of I-CERCA during 2022 has meant an evolution of the activities it had been developing successfully and has opened up new opportunities that should bring growth to both the system and the institution.