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UB Institute of Cosmos Sciences receives María de Maeztu recognition

UB Institute of Cosmos Sciences receives María de Maeztu recognition

This is the third time that ICCUB has received this accreditation in recognition of its scientific excellence and international leadership.

News | Research

(10/04/2025)

The Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB), specializing in research in cosmology, astrophysics, particle physics and nuclear physics, has been awarded the María de Maeztu 2024 Unit of Excellence accreditation, promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU). The Institute, directed by Professor Xavier Luri, receives for the third time this distinction that highlights scientific excellence, knowledge transfer and international leadership.

This is the third time that ICCUB has received this accreditation in recognition of its scientific excellence and international leadership.

News | Research

10/04/2025

The Ministry, through the State Research Agency (AEI), has published today the provisional resolution of the call for Severo Ochoa centres of excellence and María de Maeztu units of excellence 2024. The call has awarded a total of €75.7 million — 78% more than in 2018 — to recognize and fund nine centres and eight units of excellence that stand out for their scientific impact and leadership. Each Severo Ochoa accredited centre will receive a total of 4.5 million euros in structural funding over four years, while the María de Maeztu units will receive 2.25 million euros over the same period.

Currently, there are already a total of 64 centres and units accredited with this label of excellence. The evaluation and selection of the centres and units is carried out independently by an international scientific committee made up of renowned experts.

The Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, stressed that “the Spanish government is promoting and strengthening science as never before so that it is of higher quality and at the service of Spain and society as a whole”.

“This is the third time that the ICCUB has won the María de Maeztu award, which is not easy. It is not only a recognition of the outstanding science produced by our researchers, but also of the long-term strategic vision and continuous pursuit of excellence at the ICCUB. This award allows us to expand our contributions to many key scientific challenges”, says Xavier Luri, director of the ICCUB and professor at the UB’s Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics.

Researcher Licia Verde, ICCUB’s scientific director, says that “this recognition provides ICCUB with the means to conduct its ambitious scientific vision over the next four years. The excellence award represents a vote of confidence in the quality, the impact of the work done and the Institute’s potential to push the frontiers of cosmos science. I am excited about what is to come in the next four years. ICCUB team, the best is yet to come!”

As a María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence, the ICCUB will remain a member of the alliance of Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu Centres and Units of Excellence (SOMMa), which aims to promote and strengthen the centres and units accredited with this distinction on an international scale.

Since the very beginning, the calls for accreditation of Severo Ochoa centres of excellence and María de Maeztu units of excellence have distinguished different institutes and centres belonging to or linked to the UB. Specifically, the UB is the institution with the most accredited María de Maeztu units of excellence in Spain, which are the Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB), the Institute of Neurosciences (UBneuro), the Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTC), the Institute for Research in Nutrition and the Institute for Research in Nutrition Philosophy (BIAP).