The head of R+D+i Projects, Daniel Torrecilla, and the principal investigator of the Quimbio group, Elena Pazos, who is part of the Oportunius programme, attended the IV Oportunius Meeting, which took place on Thursday 21 November.
Oportunius is a Xunta de Galicia’s programme that offers opportunities to develop a scientific career of excellence in Galicia, complementing the grants of the European Research Council (ERC) and reinforcing the options of access to them.
This annual meeting, organised by GAIN (Galician Agency for Innovation), which belongs to the Consellería de Educación, Ciencia, Universidades y Formación Profesional, serves to know the position of Galicia and Spain in attracting ERC grants, as well as to listen to the testimony of researchers who receive, or are about to access, these grants.
The opening of the conference at Cidade da Cultura was led by Román Rodríguez, Conselleiro de Educación, Ciencia, Universidades y Formación Profesional from Xunta de Galicia. After that, the audience could also hear the perspectives of some of the winning researchers and finalists of these prestigious grants awarded by the European Research Council.
The conference given by the Director General of Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT), Izaskun Lacunza, focused on the tools to support scientific careers, while the conference with the participation of Francisco Vilaplana, Head of Institutional Relations and former President of the Network of Associations of Scientists Abroad (RAICEX), Joaquín Capablo, Vice-President of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) and Promoter of European projects at Campus Iberus and Beatriz Pelaz, Full Member of the Academia Joven de España, AJdE, discussed about the attraction and return of talent to Galicia.
CICA’s Oportunius Researchers
Dr. Elena Pazos leads the QUIMBIO group, a multidisciplinary research group focused on the development of chemical tools for use in biomedicine. Pazos is a Starting Grant beneficiary in 2019 and is part of the Oportunius programme.
Daniel Nieto, from the Advanced Biofab group, is also an Oportunius researcher. His project on 3D organ bioprinting was awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Commission.
