The State Research Agency has announced the awarding of the “María de Maeztu” credential to BC3, the Basque Centre for Climate Change, in acknowledgement of the quality and level of excellence in the research it conducts. The evaluation committee stressed that “the multidisciplinary research conducted by BC3 is an example of what natural sciences should implement in the future”.
This credential brings BC3 a fund of 2 million euro for four years. In the words of María José Sanz, Scientific Director of BC3, “the María de Maeztu credential represents an acknowledgement of the work of a team with a shared vision on climate change and rewards the effort exerted to advance in multidisciplinary knowledge about this subject. It is an exceptional way of celebrating our 10th anniversary. We are very proud of obtaining this acknowledgement and will continue striving to ensure that we uphold the level of excellence required by this credential”.
The distinction “María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence” forms part of the institutional reinforcement strategy of the National Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research and purports to finance and accredit those public research centres and units in any scientific field that demonstrate international impact and scientific leadership and collaborate actively with their social and business environments.
A total of 7 centres were distinguished in this edition, along with 5 other centres awarded the Severo Ochoa credential. An international scientific committee composed of researchers of renowned prestige took charge of the evaluation and selection process, which has considered both scientific results and the strategic programmes of centres and units, to highlight the candidacies that stood out among all others for their excellence.
In the assessment report, the scientific committee underscored “the multidisciplinary character of the centre and its high level of productivity in terms of scientific production and other research results, such as, for instance, contributions to international panels like IPCC or IPBES, and its capacity to attract external funding as a result of the excellence in the research it conducts”.