At the end of 2024, Ikerbasque had gathered a total of 402 researchers distributed across three categories for scientific career development: 201 Research Professors, with extensive experience and leadership capabilities; 112 Research Fellows, aimed at nurturing a high-level scientific talent pool; and 89 Research Associate Professors, an intermediate figure that helps complete the different stages of the research career. This structure not only strengthened research excellence but also boosted scientific output, as reflected in the publication of 1,553 articles in high-impact international indexed journals.
During the same year, the fundraising efforts by Ikerbasque researchers reached 47 million euros —two million more than in 2023—, with 1,321 research projects receiving external funding. Among these, 30 projects were supported by the European Research Council (ERC), the most prestigious European body for funding frontier research. As a result of this dynamic activity, 1,643 professionals were working by the end of the year in the research groups led by Ikerbasque researchers. Additionally, their impact extended into the business sector, participating in 41 spin-offs —business initiatives based on the exploitation of new processes, products, or services stemming from the knowledge and results generated through their research.
The researchers recruited worldwide by Ikerbasque to work in universities and R&D centers in the Basque Country come from 35 different countries and are predominantly male, with 68% men and 32% women. In terms of their areas of expertise, 44% specialize in experimental sciences, 26% in medical sciences, 16% in engineering, and 14% in social sciences and humanities. Ikerbasque researchers come from the world's most prestigious institutions such as MIT, Harvard University, Oxford University, Stanford University, CNRS, and Max Planck Institutes.
The results achieved in 2024 allow us to state that the Basque Country is consolidating its position as a European reference in science. We are now internationally recognized as a region with advanced research, with Basque research groups of international caliber, and where the conditions are favorable for the development of world-class research. An example of this is the European Commission selecting Ikerbasque's researchers attraction program as one of the best European initiatives for scientific development on six occasions, resulting in 28 million euros in funding for Ikerbasque from the European Commission.
Destinations
Regarding their destinations, 130 Ikerbasque researchers have been assigned to the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The remaining 272 joined other universities (University of Deusto and Mondragon University) and research centers, including the nine Basque Excellence Research Centers (BERC) and the four Cooperative Research Centers (CIC) under the Department of Science, Universities, and Research.
The complete list of existing BERC and CIC centers is as follows:
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Achucarro – Basque Center for Neuroscience
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BCMaterials – Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures
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Polymat – Basque Center for Macromolecular Design & Engineering (Donostia)
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DIPC – Donostia International Physics Center (Donostia)
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CFM-MPC – Materials Physics Center (Donostia)
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Biofisika Institutua – Basque Centre for Biophysics (Bizkaia, Leioa)
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BC3 – Basque Centre for Climate Change
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BCAM – Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (Bilbao)
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BCBL – Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (Donostia)
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CIC biomaGUNE
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CIC bioGUNE
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CIC energiGUNE
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CIC nanoGUNE
In addition to these centers of excellence and the three mentioned universities (UPV/EHU, Deusto, and Mondragon), other hosts for researchers recruited by Ikerbasque include the health research institutes Bioaraba, Biobizkaia, and Biogipuzkoa, as well as the research centers Azti, Neiker, Tecnalia, and Tecnum (University of Navarra), in addition to Globernance (Center for Research and Dissemination of Political Thought) and the IISL/IISJ (International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Oñati). In total, 25 Basque universities and research centers benefit from the recruitment of international researchers.
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