Over the past year CamBio has realised 33 million € in research focused contracts and agreements and a further 74.5 million € through competitive calls.
The project Campus de Excelencia Internacional de Medio Ambiente, Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CEI CamBio), including the seven youngest Andalusian universities and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), enjoys a solid position regarding national and international research, according to the latest data offered by the Sistema de Información Científica de Andalucía (SICA), Dirección General de Investigación, Tecnología y Empresa, Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia.
The project’s partner institutions employ a total of 7,085 doctorate holders with the support of 14,084 R+D (Research and Development) technicians. This includes the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, coordinator of the project, the universities of Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Huelva, Internacional de Andalucía and Jaén, and CSIC.
The fact that 450 research groups attached to said institutions are directly related to scientific production in CamBio’s specialist areas of interest – Climate Change and Water Resources, Bio-diversity and Socio-ecosystems, Renewable Energy, Ecological Production, Healthcare and Environmental Technology and Global Change – must be highlighted. Similarly, 218 of these groups have received qualifications of excellence according to the criteria set forth by the Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación.
The effect of this is clear. Regardless of the current crisis, the number of contracts and agreements under the coordination of CamBio partners has remained high. In the last year alone, almost 33 million € was realised from this source, to add to the 74.5 million realised through regional, national and international competitive research calls.
Furthermore, over the past year project members have applied for 118 patents and created 21 technology-based firms (TBF) and spin-off enterprises, employing or being managed by a total of 51 researchers.
This strong position in environmental research also materialises in the fact that almost 40% of high-impact articles (Nature, Science, PNAS) on environment, bio-diversity and climate change related subjects published by national research groups have been produced by CamBio researchers.
In the words of CEI CamBio’s director, Pilar Paneque, ‘the strategic coalition formed around the Campus de Excelencia Internacional will substantially improve research results – especially regarding the capture of funds through international calls – through the synergies created with national public research institutions, specialist bodies in innovation and the transference of results, private firms attached to CamBio and the location of LifeWatch – world reference infrastructure for research into bio-diversity – in the campus of the Universidad Pablo de Olavide.’