The Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon, INMA, (a mixed university institute of the Higher Council of Scientific Research, CSIC and the University of Zaragoza) has just been proposed for the accreditation of center of excellence Severo Ochoa in the provisional resolution of March 21 of the State Research Agency. With this accreditation, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities seeks to promote scientific-technical research and its transfer to society, recognizing those research centers in Spain that stand out as referents in their field of specialization.
The scientific director of the proposal, Luis Martin-Moreno, research professor at the CSIC, has expressed his satisfaction with this accreditation, which reflects the excellence of INMA, both in research and in its management. The presented project offers an integrative approach that moves research in nanomaterials to the challenges of today’s society. Based on the strengths of INMA in nanofabrication, advanced characterization, and the study of new phenomena in the nanoscale, the scientific project addresses research excellence in: i) CO2 capture technologies and their revaluation, ii) use of nanomaterials for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and the prevention of multiresistant infectious diseases, and iii) use of quantum effects in materials and devices for the development of sensors and for the processing of information.
The INMA is the first institute in Aragon to receive this accreditation. This recognition involves funding of 4,500,000 euros and the provision of 15 predoctoral contracts, ten of which were obtained in the previous call for applications. As the director of INMA, Conrado Rillo, commented, this recognition, “allows to attract talent and reinforce the results and impact of the research that is developed in INMA, to be more visible in the international arena and to project Aragón to the outside.”
The Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon (INMA) is a mixed University Research Institute created in 2020 by an agreement between the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) and the University of Zaragoza. The mission of INMA is to contribute to the advancement of scientific and technical knowledge in the area of nanoscience and material technology through scientific excellence and the transfer of our knowledge to society. The INMA is created with the aim of obtaining the mention of excellence and has received aid from the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza in recent years through the programs of strengthening research institutes that opt to be centers of excellence Severo Ochoa and of their own aid.
With around 300 members, the research developed at INMA is organized into six research areas: two transversal and four applied. The two cross-cutting areas of research have been defined by focusing on the tools for design, synthesis, manufacture and characterization of materials. These areas are: “Synthesis, Processing and Scaling of Advanced Functional Materials” and “Unique Experimental Technologies”.
The applied research areas of INMA have been established based on the functionality of the materials and the resulting nanoscale phenomena. These areas are: Materials for Energy and the Environment, Materials for Biomedicine, Materials for Information Technologies and New Phenomena in the Nanoscale.
The government delegate in Aragon, Fernando Beltrán, recalled that no project is built “overnight” and pointed out that the support that the center has received in recent years has been “from all the institutions”. In this sense he has celebrated the work “with long lights” in a model that has borne fruit in the current seal of excellence. Something that will be “a lever to continue expanding the capabilities of INMA” in the coming years.
INMA has extensive experience in the participation and management of national and international research projects, with more than 40 ongoing European projects and an annual average of 300 publications and seven million euros obtained in competitive public programs. No less important is the transfer component of INMA. In addition to having created numerous technology-based companies, four of them active, have 15 patents in force, five of which are licensed. INMA works closely with the industry. All this provides around one million euros of annual revenue between contracts and royalties.
INMA has received nearly five million euros through the Next Generation Funds of the European Union of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities to carry out unique actions in the field of Energy Transition, Quantum Technologies, Archaeology and Health and strategic projects of the CSIC. In addition, it has funding through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Digital Transformation, through the Quantum Spain initiative (95.000 €)
For its part, the Government of Aragon financially supports INMA from different programs to consolidate the R+D+I activity that takes place in it and improve its scientific results. In this sense, as a University Research Institute it received in 2023 within the contract program of research institutes 253,000 euros as aid to the research groups. In addition, the INMA participates with an allocation of 1.6 million euros of the so-called Complementary Plan of Advanced Materials and currently has six ARAID researchers and 23 predoctoral researchers hired thanks to the funding of the Department of Education, Science and Universities.
On the other hand, within the framework of the contract between the Government of Aragon and the University of Zaragoza, an investment of 8.5 million is planned until 2026 to build a new three-storey building next to the CEMINEM, on the Rio Ebro Campus, which will be used for research laboratories for University Research Institutes.