Between 2014 and 2020, the Institute coordinated 5 H2020 RIA projects, which placed the ICM in the first position among the CSIC centres leading this type of initiatives.
The Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM) in Barcelona is the centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) that successfully coordinated more RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) projects in the European Framework Programme Horizon 2020 (H2020), an achievement that has been possible thanks to its commitment with frontier research for the benefit of the society.
The H2020 was the funding instrument for European Research Framework Programme between the years 2014 and 2020. In total, over this period, the European Union allocated 77 billion euros to projects in this programme to promote all types of activities related to research and innovation.
Research and Innovations Actions (RIA) are large collaborative that may include fundamental or applied research, but also development and new technology implementation. Specifically, the ICM has coordinated RIA projects for a total funding worth 23 M€.
Among the initiatives coordinated by the ICM are the MINOUW project, dedicated at reducing, through technical, biological and social measures, the incidental capture of marine species; and the MEDEAS project, which sought to develop a model that faithfully reflects energy, economic, social and environmental interactions and help plan the energy transition, both of which have already been finished.
On the other hand, the ICM is currently coordinating three H2020 initiatives that are still active: PRODIGIO, aimed at accelerating the production of biogas from microalgae; Cos4Cloud, which aims to revolutionise citizen science technology; and MINKE, which seeks to improve the quality of oceanographic data and, thus, contribute to the development of environmental policies based on scientific evidence.
With these 5 coordinated projects, the ICM occupies the first position among the CSIC centres coordinating RIA projects in the European H2020 Framework Programme, and is in the CSIC top positions considering the global of all types of projects.
The results of a joint effort
While excellence science is a compulsory requirement for such an achievement, is not the only ingredient. These good results have been possible thanks to the collective effort of all the research, technical and management support staff at the ICM throughout all the application and implementation stages of the funded projects.
The ICM's commitment to greater internationalisation and participation in the current Horizon Europe Framework Programme continues to be clear and counts with the support of the Research Support Office (RSO), in coordination with the administrative staff of the ICM and CSIC Central Services and, in particular, the International Programmes Area of the Vice-Presidency for International Relations (VRI-CSIC).
Research opportunities continue to be numerous in the new Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Funding (2021-2027). In this regard, the ICM keeps active in providing different support resources and using its channels to make available all the information on the calls and news of this great funding programme.
