IBMCP, a New Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence

The Research Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants (IBMCP), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has been selected for the first time as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence. This distinction, awarded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the State Research Agency, positions IBMCP among Spain's benchmark research centres for the quality, impact and international projection of its scientific work. It also provides €4.5 million in funding over four years to support the centre's strategic initiatives.

The Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence and María de Maeztu Units of Excellence programme aims to strengthen the capabilities of accredited centres while enhancing the international leadership and visibility of Spanish research. Centres are assessed and selected independently by an international scientific committee made up of researchers of recognised prestige and academic impact.

IBMCP's selection as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence—announced in the provisional resolution published last week—acknowledges its scientific track record in the study of plant molecular and cellular biology, as well as its contribution to advancing knowledge of the processes that regulate plant development, function and adaptation.

A boost for IBMCP

This achievement adds to the award of an extraordinary grant under the MaX-CSIC 2025 project, a CSIC initiative aimed at developing excellence strategies across its research centres and institutes. The MaX-CSIC project supports centres in defining and implementing improvement plans, providing self-assessment tools, expert guidance and financial support to help them progress towards higher levels of scientific, institutional and social excellence.

"The Severo Ochoa accreditation from the State Research Agency and the ASPIRA-MaX recognition from CSIC represent a major boost for IBMCP and reinforce its role as a leading centre in plant research, biotechnology and knowledge transfer. It is a recognition of the work performed by all the centre's research, technical, management and support staff, and an opportunity to continue strengthening high-quality research with an international outlook," said Pablo Vera, Director of IBMCP.

Cristina Ferrándiz, Scientific Director of the Severo Ochoa project at IBMCP, noted that the funding will help address the challenges of modern plant biology by enhancing IBMCP's technical capabilities with state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment, attracting talent to expand its research capacity and lines of work, and implementing mechanisms to increase the social and scientific impact of its research.

Five Centres of Excellence in the Valencian Community

With IBMCP, there are now five CSIC centres in the Valencian Community recognised as Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence: the Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIC-UPV), the Institute of Neurosciences (CSIC-UMH), the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (CSIC), and the Institute for Corpuscular Physics (CSIC-UV).