The report by the International Programmes Area (API) of the CSIC shows the number of actions and funding secured during the Horizon 2020 European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation by the CSIC Institutes and Centers.

ICMAB is the first H2020 CSIC Institute in number of Principal Investigators (PI) involved in the H2020 actions and in the amount of funding. In total, 49 PIs coordinate or participate in H2020 actions, and the total H2020 projects represent 30.1 M€. 

Taking into account that the CSIC has participated or coordinated 891 projects, involving 382 M€ in H2020, ICMAB represents 8 % of the total CSIC funding and approximately 12 % of the projects.*

According to Xavier Obradors, ICMAB Director: "It is a great joy for all ICMABers to have managed to climb the Everest of the CSIC! We're also very happy that four centers in Catalunya are among the six most productive H2020 CSIC institutes. Being the Institute that attracts more European funds in the period 2014-2020 of the entire CSIC reflects the great dynamism and effort that all the staff, including both researchers and support staff, have made to be internationally competitive."

CSIC is the 1st Spanish Institution and the 3rd European Institution in number of H2020 actions. CSIC has secured during the H2020 period (2014-2020) 22 % more projects than in the previous 7th Framework Programme, representing 45 % more funding. 

Materials Area

ICMAB represents 49 % of the funding of the Institutes belonging to the Materials Science and Technology Area, which is 61 M€ in total.  

The CSIC Institutes belonging in the Area of Materials have participated in 121 H2020 projects involving a total funding of 61 M€. In the previous Framework Programme (7th), the funding was of 26 M€, so the increase has been of 35 M€, representing a 135 % increase from one programme to the other. 

The Materials Area is the third area with more actions and funding, behind the Physics Area (180 actions) and the Natural Resources Area (168 projects) in number of projects, and the Physics Area (80 M€) and the Biology and Biomedicine Area (65 M€) in terms of funding.

MSCA and ERC actions

The highest number of H2020 actions in which the CSIC Institutes have participated are the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions - Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) (189 projects), from which ICMAB has 12 of them granted during H2020 (1 will start in 2021 and 3 in 2022). In total, the MSCA projects (including actions IF, ITN, RISE, COFUND, NIGHT) amount 312, of which 16 are from ICMAB (5 %). One of them is the MSCA-COFUND DOCFAM, coordinated by ICMAB, our Doctoral Training Programme in Functional Advanced Materials that trains 22 early stage researchers in this field.

Regarding the ERC actions, CSIC researchers have been granted with 88 ERC projects during H2020, of which 13 (15 %) are from ICMAB researchers (3 of them will start in 2021 but are still H2020 projects). The ERC is the main H2020 programme in CSIC in terms of funding. 

Top 10 Institutes

Of the first 6 CSIC Institutes with more H2020 PIs and funding, 4 are from Catalunya: the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB), the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM), the Institut de Diagnosi Ambiental i Estudis de l'Aigua (IDAE) and the Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM), three of them Severo Ochoa Centers of Excellence. 

ICMAB is the first CSIC Institute of this ranking, as mentioned, with 49 PIs and 30.1 M€, which is nearly the double in funding of the Institute in the 2nd position, ICM, with 46 PIs and 15.2 M€. IDAEA is in the 5th position, with 30 PIs and 9.3 M€, and IMB-CNM is the 6th with 29 PIs and 11.1 M€.

Towards Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe, which started in 2021 and will finish in 2027 is the current EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. At ICMAB we have started this framework programme with very good news: 3 new EIC (European Innovation Council) Pathfinder Open projects! We also have some H2020 projects starting in 2021: 3 ERC (European Research Council) projects, 2 MSCA-ITN, 1 MSCA-IF, 1 NMBP and 1 INFRAIA, as you can see in the figure, and 3 more MSCA-IF starting in 2022. Non stop projects! 

"It is the best Christmas gift that we could have, and as ICMAB Director I feel proud and full of joy for what we have achieved. We still have a long way to go and to keep improving, and I'm sure we will enjoy the road together. It is a pleasure to continue doing quality science together with this great team!" says Xavier Obradors, ICMAB Director. 

More information:

• The ICMAB Annual Report 2020 is here!
• ICMAB research projects 2020
• CSIC Annual Report 2020
• El CSIC se sitúa como la tercera institución en número de proyectos obtenidos del programa europeo de I+D+I Horizonte 2020 (CSIC, 7 Jan 2022)

*Taking into account that approximately 1 PI represents 1 project.
**Information from the report "Informe de resultados del CSIC en H2020" from the VRI-CSIC. 

Download the press release in CAT,  ESP, ENG.