15 million euros for hiring the best young talent in Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence

The 18 research centres accredited with the Severo Ochoa seal of excellence have convoked the third edition of the “La Caixa” - Severo Ochoa International PhD Fellowships Programme. This initiative, funded by the “La Caixa” Foundation, will enable 46 students to be taken on to study their doctoral thesis projects for the next four years.

The grants will be awarded, after an international selection process, to the students with the greatest talent and best academic record. The initiative has the unanimous recognition of the educational community and trains students in an internationally competitive way, according to the Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation, Carmen Vela, as she stated during the presentation ceremony for scholars from the previous edition of the programme.

The “La Caixa” - Severo Ochoa International PhD Fellowships Programme is a continuation of the previous International PhD Fellowships in Biomedecine Programme, which began in 2008 and has been extended until 2016. In 2012 the “La Caixa” Foundation signed an agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, to extend its support for the training of young scientists in all scientific disciplines and link this to the Severo Ochoa symbol of excellence. Between 2013 and 2018, the “La Caixa” Foundation will have allocated more than 15 million euros for this new programme, a figure that bears witness to the strategic importance this organisation places on investment into first-class research.

The directors of the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence all agree that the “La Caixa” Foundation programme is an example to be followed. Scientific research should not and cannot depend solely on public resources. For this reason, and to be able to maintain and increase the competitiveness of our R+D+i system, the investment of private organisations into quality science, and with a long-term view, is vital.

The Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation, awarded by the Secretary of State of Research, Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, aims to promote the excellent research taking place in Spain. The centres are selected by independent scientific committees made up of internationally renowned researchers. The accreditation includes funding of one million euros annually for a four-year period.

The research centres that have obtained the Severo Ochoa seal of excellence to date, and which are participating in this call, are the following:

• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics (BCAM)
• Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS)
• National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC)
• National Cardiovascular Research Centre (CNIC-ISCIII)
• National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO-ISCIII)
• Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
• Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC)
• Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)
• Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
• Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ)
• Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT-CSIC/UAM-UC3M-UCM)
• Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2-CSIC/CERCA/UAB)
• Instituto de Física de Altas Energías (IFAE)
• Institute for Theoretical Physics (IFT-UAM/CSIC)
• Institute of Neurosciences in Alicante (IN-UMH/CSIC)
• Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona)
• Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ-UPV/CSIC)