ICTA-UAB receives María de Maeztu Excellence Accreditation

The Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) was awarded its accreditation as a “María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence 2015” on 2 February at the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). The CRAG and the ICMAB received the Severo Ochoa Seal of Excellence.

03/02/2016

ICTA-UAB research director, Patrizia Ziveri, received the accreditation from acting Secretary of State for R&D+I Carmen Vela in a ceremony held in Madrid that also included the awarding of the Severo Ochoa accreditations. Dr Ziveri was accompanied by the director of the ICTA-UAB, Dr Jordina Belmonte.

This distinction is in recognition of excellence in stable research organisations located mainly in universities, and includes 2 million Euros in funding over four years. According to MINECO, ICTA-UAB’s scientific production is internationally competitive in terms of quantity and quality, and its postgraduate training programmes are exemplary. The scientific committee’s report states that “there are not many places in Europe which can boast such a rigorous international perspective. The many international programmes and research projects and the excellence of the leading researchers should ensure an outstanding level for attracting postdocs” and the report praises the quality of ICTA’s dissemination materials and the fact that these target all relevant groups, from the public to specific stakeholders.

ICTA-UAB will implement a Strategic Research Programme between 2016 and 2019, intended to consolidate its scientific capabilities, contribute to the leadership of Spanish research and act as an international pole of attraction for talent. MINECO points out that “ICTA is well positioned and has the capacity to further strengthen its position as an acknowledged leader in climate and global change-related environmental research”.

ICTA's research director, Patrizia Ziveri, will be the scientific director of the Strategic Research Programme. Dr Ziveri will chair the Steering Committee that will consist of the researchers Isabelle Anguelovski, Jordina Belmonte, Xavier Gabarrell, Eric Galbraith, Mario Giampietro, Giorgos Kallis, Victoria Reyes-García, Joan Rieradevall Pons, Antoni Rosell, and Jeroen van den Bergh.

Under the 2016-2019 Strategic Research Programme, the research will focus on establishing the current state of knowledge on climate change and its socio-economic impacts, and on putting forward transformative solutions at the local and regional levels. This will be done through five multidisciplinary strategic projects: 1. Translating natural science insights on climate change into models that can be used for systems and synergy analyses (project leader: Eric Galbraith). 2. Integrating socio-economic and policy studies with natural science studies (including modelling simulations and projections) to enhance consilience of climate policy science (project leader: Jeroen van den Bergh). 3. Combining engineering and economic-policy analysis to provide more complete information for policy makers about costs and rebound of technological design for climate solutions (project leader: Xavier Gabarrell). 4. Tapping into local climate change knowledge to provide more relevant insights into regional and local climate dynamics (project leader: Victoria Reyes-García). 5. Understanding bottom-up and top-down approaches in fostering a transition to a low-carbon economy (project leader: Giorgos Kallis).

Additionally, the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) and the Agrigenomics Research Centre (CRAG), a consortium between CSIC, IRTA, UAB and UB, were awarded the Severo Ochoa Seal of Excellence. This means the UAB and the UAB-CIE Sphere now have five centres of excellence recognised by the MINECO: Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE), the Institute of High Energy Physics (IFAE), the Catalan Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB) and the Agrigenomics Research Centre (CRAG); and two María de Maeztu Units: the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the UAB (ICTA-UAB) and the Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (Barcelona GSM), in which the UAB Department of Mathematics and the Centre for Research in Mathematics participate.

These accreditations are awarded after a rigorous evaluation and selection process based on scientific criteria and in line with the most demanding international standards.