The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities hosts the directors of SOMMa centers and units.
On September 5th, the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities hosted an Extraordinary General Assembly of the SOMMa Alliance, bringing together the directors of the 68 Centers and Units of excellence within the alliance.
The assembly was attended by Juan Cruz Cigudosa, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Universities; Eva Ortega-Paíno, Secretary General for Research; and Domènec Espriu, Director of the State Research Agency.
SOMMa President María José Sanz, along with Vice Presidents Antonio Molina and Isabel Márquez, led the meeting and officially welcomed six new centers accredited in the CEX 2023 call, including the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC) and the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragón (INMA), among others.
The assembly discussed future initiatives such as potentially joining the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), which aims to reform research evaluation based on qualitative criteria, and promoting equitable recognition of women in research and innovation.
In the afternoon, Minister Diana Morant presided over the recognition of Severo Ochoa Centers and María de Maeztu Units accredited from 2018 to the present, emphasizing their transformative capacity to address national challenges through science.