Images
"la Caixa" International PhD Programme celebrates its fourth edition with 40 new fellowships generously funded by the Social Programme of this savings bank foundation.
Next September, IRB Barcelona will welcome 10 new students within this programme. With them, the institute will be hosting 50 "la Caixa" PhD students.
"la Caixa" Social Programme has held today a ceremony at the CaixaForum Madrid to award 40 grants corresponding to the fourth edition of the “la Caixa” International PhD Programme in Biomedicine. This doctoral programme is aimed at attracting young talented scientists worldwide to recruit them to four of the biomedical research centres of reference in Spain, among them the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) - other awarded centres being the “Centro Nacional de Biotecnología” (CNB-CSIC), the “Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas Carlos III” (CNIO), and the “Centre de Regulació Genòmica” (CRG).
The award ceremony has been chaired by the State Secretary of Research Development and Innovation, Carmen Vela, the General Director of “la Caixa”, Joan Maria Nin, and the Director of the “la Caixa” Foundation, Jaime Lanaspa. IRB Barcelona Director, Joan J. Guinovart, accompanied the students during the ceremony. The young Italian researcher Simone Pietetti, a student working at Miquel Coll’s lab, gave a speech on behalf of the 10 students who will be working towards their PhD in the next four years at the institute.
Over five years, 200 grants will be offered by “la Caixa” International PhD Fellowship Programme, with an investment of approximately 27 million euros. All the grants last for four years and are open to students and researchers worldwide. Last September, IRB Barcelona selected 10 students from Spain (2), France (2), Italy, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Colombia, and Iran. In September 2012, the institute will welcome 10 new students and will host 50 talented young researchers funded by “la Caixa”.
Through this programme, “la Caixa” consolidates its commitment to research in health and health sciences. The generous funding of the fellowships, together with the scientific excellence of the Spanish centres selected, puts these awards on a competitive footing with other prestigious international grants addressed to predoctoral students.
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
