The European Commission has recognized the work carried out by lkerbasque since 2007 to reinforce the positioning of the Basque Country as an international knowledge and research pole by choosing its program to attract researchers as one of the best European initiatives for scientific development. In fact, from a total o 148 proposals evaluated, Ikerbasque's one has obtained the highest score by international experts: 99.4 out of 100.
Ikerbasque plans to hire 100 researchers in the next four years, of which 36 will be funded by the European Commission with 4 million euros. These are researchers from all over the world, from all areas of knowledge, who will carry out their research in the Basque Country over the next four years.
Europe needs highly qualified researchers for the development of the European Research Area (ERA). The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has had serious impact on young researchers, with a drastic decrease in job opportunities for this group. The European Commission is clear that a generation of researchers who are the future in science and technology cannot be lost.
For this reason, the European Commission's aid will be aimed at hiring young researchers, with special emphasis on hiring women and on the return of young researchers trained in the Basque Country who are currently developing their research abroad. The researchers hired will develop their research in 24 research centers and universities in the Basque Country in different areas of knowledge such as medicine, biosciences, chemical sciences, mathematics, physics, technology, environmental sciences, economics, linguistics or psychology.
This aid will allow Ikerbasque to incorporate 36 researchers who are currently developing their work anywhere in the world to its own network, already made up of 290 top-rate researchers who carry out their work in different areas at various centers in the Basque Country. Likewise, Ikerbasque is committed to offering a stable career to its researchers. These positions offer a period of 5 years to scientists to develop their research and later, based on their performance, they can obtain a permanent research position.
Fernando Cossio, Scientific Director of Ikerbasque, highlighted “the great relevance of this European support, both for the support it represents for the Basque strategy for attracting talent, and for its important financial contribution. With this European support, the Basque Country has established itself as a European benchmark in science; we are already recognized internationally as a region with advanced research, with Basque research groups of international level and where the right conditions exist to carry out research of international level”.
The first call that will benefit from this aid is open until March 10: Researchers from all over the world, from all areas of knowledge and with research experience of between 3 and 10 years can submit their applications through the IKERBASQUE website (www.ikerbasque.net). The applications received will go through an exhaustive international evaluation process based on the criteria of scientific excellence established by the European Commission. A panel of international scientists selects the best candidates.
IKERBASQUE is the result of the Basque Government's commitment to scientific research and the alliance that both the administrations and the universities and companies of the autonomous community have carried out for years. In order to contribute to this effort to position the Basque Country among the most relevant powers in R&D, IKERBASQUE's fundamental axis of action is to serve as a pole of attraction for research talent.
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