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The Spanish State Research Agency grants this competitive accreditation to recognise, promote, and fund high-excellence scientific research in Spanish institutions of outstanding international relevance.
On 21 March, the final decision of the 2023 call for the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence Accreditation and María de Maeztu Units of Excellence was published, announcing that IRB Barcelona has been awarded this prestigious recognition for the fourth consecutive time.
The purpose of the award is twofold. First, it is recognition of the best centres and units of excellence, which stand out for their international impact and relevance during the reference period.
Second, the call awards funding for the strategic plans developed by the centres and for the strategic research programmes developed by the units for a specified period, to consolidate their capabilities and contribute to the leadership of Spanish research.
Within the framework of this accreditation, IRB Barcelona is developing an ambitious scientific and institutional programme focused on strengthening research fields such as immuno-oncology, chemical biology, and senescence, with the primary goal of contributing to knowledge and solutions for cancer and metastasis.
Recognition as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence spans four years and brings with it the award of €1 M per year over this period.
The selection process is carried out by the State Research Agency, and is conducted on a competitive basis, following the highest standards of evaluation by international peer review.
This accreditation is granted to a limited number of centres each year and these institutions can reapply once the four-year period has ended. The Severo Ochoa Accreditation provides visibility and grants priority access to certain public initiatives for human resources, among other benefits.
IRB Barcelona received the Severo Ochoa Accreditation in the first call for this award in 2011 and the second call in 2016.
With this latest renewal, IRB Barcelona is one of the six centres in Spain, of which only two work in the field of biomedical research, to have been granted the distinction for four consecutive periods.
The other centres of excellence accredited in the 2023 call were: the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, and the University of Valencia, as well as the María de Maeztu Centers of Excellence at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), the Basque Center for Macromolecular Design and Engineering Polymat Fundazioa, and the University of Granada.
Accreditation as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence is a highly relevant recognition of IRB Barcelona’s research leadership and dedication to cutting-edge biomedicine.
With the financial support and the prestige associated with this accreditation, the Institute is optimally positioned to continue pushing forward knowledge and treatment of diseases such as cancer, thereby providing innovative solutions and significant contributions to the advancement of science and the improvement of human health.
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
