At the CaixaResearch Institute, we were honoured to receive an institutional visit from Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council, in the first weeks of the centre’s activity following our recent inauguration.

The visit comes at a particularly significant moment for us: the Institute opened its doors only a few days ago as Spain’s first centre specialising in immunology. Our Institute was created with the ambition of becoming an international benchmark in biomedical research and of accelerating advances that improve people’s health.

During the visit, Maria Leptin toured our facilities and had the opportunity to see first-hand the centre’s scientific and technological spaces, designed to foster collaborative and multidisciplinary research. The visit also included meetings with institutional representatives and the Institute’s scientific leaders, with whom she exchanged views on some of the major challenges currently facing European science.

Throughout the visit, we presented the main pillars of our scientific project, which is focused on understanding the role of the immune system in a wide range of diseases and on transforming that knowledge into new tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment. We also discussed the importance of creating environments capable of attracting research talent and facilitating the transfer of knowledge to society.

The visit by the President of the European Research Council reinforces our international dimension at a key stage in our development. It also highlights the importance of continuing to build scientific institutions that are connected to Europe, open to collaboration, and prepared to respond to some of the major health challenges of our time.

The role of the ERC in European science

The European Research Council is one of Europe’s most prestigious and important institutions supporting frontier research. Established by the European Union, it funds highly competitive projects led by outstanding researchers of any nationality and discipline, selected solely on the basis of scientific excellence.

Since its creation, the ERC has established itself as a key driving force behind transformative discoveries, strengthening Europe’s scientific competitiveness and attracting international talent to the continent’s research ecosystem.