At the end of 2018, IKERBASQUE had 153 researchers with a long-standing and leadership capacity; 68 young researchers - coming to strengthen the quarry of young senior researchers - and another 18 researchers, joining the Research Associate category to cover all stages of their research career. Everyone's research has been widely publicized by the scientific journal. As a result, a total of 1,160 articles were published throughout the year, in indexed publications, that is, in high-quality international editorial media. The total amount of funds obtained by the researchers of IKERBASQUE in 2018 was 28,366,352 euros (2 million euros more than in 2017). Since 2007, they have managed to attract 175 million euros to the Basque Country.

 

Of the 589 projects financed from external funding (160 more projects than the previous year), twelve were funded by the ERC (European Research Council). This is the most prestigious institution in the old continent, with the aim of promoting ambitious research projects established on the frontier of knowledge, and at the end of last year, 877 people worked in teams led by researchers at IKERBASQUE. IKERBASQUE researchers from around the world attracted to work at the University of the Basque Country and R&D centers in 36 countries, most of them Spanish (138), Italian (22), German (11), Russian (7), British (7), Canadian (6) and Americans (5), but there are 29 other people from Europe, America and Asia. Among them, men are 79%, compared to 21% of women. Most researchers are physics scientists (30%), 22% in medical sciences and 14% in chemistry. 12% are experts in the humanities and social sciences, the engineering ones also have the same percentage, and the remaining 10% are in biology. These Ikerbasque researchers come from the most prestigious centers in the world, including MIT, Harvard, Oxford and Stanford universities, CNRS or Max Planck.

 

On the basis of the results obtained in 2018, it can be said that the Basque Country has positioned itself as a European reference in the field of science. Internationally, the Basque Country is already recognized as a region of advanced research, given the international conditions of Basque research groups and the appropriate conditions for developing international research.

 

Some of the work done by KERBASQUE researchers and the most notable publications of the last year include:

 

Luis Liz Marzan. Ikerbasque's researcher and CICbiomaGUNE's scientific director participated in the discovery of an innovative methodology for detecting amyloid fibers commonly associated with neurodegenerative diseases. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA opens the door to new methods for diagnosing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and prion diseases.

 

Tom Broadhurst. Ikerbasque researchers and international researchers working with the UPV / EHU identified the most distant individual star ever, a giant blue star named Icaro. The work was published in the prestigious journal Nature Astronomy.

 

Maia Garcia Vergniory. Researchers from Ikerbasque and the international team of researchers working with DIPC have demonstrated that the electronic structure of bismuth, considered topologically irrelevant, is inherently topological. The journal Nature Physics provided the cover for the study.

 

But José Sanz. An Ikerbasque researcher and BC3's scientific director, in an article on greenhouse gas emissions published in the journal Nature Climate Change, quantified the differences between the data computed by countries and the global community of official models.

 

In 2018, IKERBASQUE developed a plan for equality for men and women in accordance with the methodology proposed by Women, and as a result of this process, with the aim of advancing equality, Ikerbasque has proposed 7 actions to be developed in the short term; these include the recognition of women researchers. This is why, in 2019, we want to acknowledge three women who are pursuing a research career in the Basque Country.

 

With this action, we aim to showcase the careers of outstanding women researchers, who will become role models for future generations. There will be three recognitions: recognition of the entire research career, recognition of the leading researcher in the relevant field and recognition of the significant contribution made by a young researcher. The Sub-committee will be responsible for making the final selection, an Ikerbasque Board of Trustees committee composed of women researchers and the Scientific Director of the Ikerbasque Board, and will validate the Ikerbasque Scientific Committee. The statements will be distributed at a public event in May or June.