Over One Thousand Groups Engaging in Applied Research Compete for 21 Project Grants Awarded

Over one thousand groups engaging in applied research compete for 21 project grants awarded by the BBVA Foundation

In their first edition, the BBVA Foundation Grants for Research Projects in Social and Economic Sciences, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Digital Humanities and Biomedicine received 1,056 applications from teams summing 7,607 researchers, distributed across seventeenSpanish regions

Projects will last from two to three years and will be funded with between 60,000 and 150,000 euros

This was the last of the three calls decided in the BBVA Foundation Grants Programdestined for video art creation, individual researchers and creative practitioners, and research projects, with combined funding of 5.5 million euros

Madrid, December 11, 2014.- Over one thousand projects bringing together 7,607 researchers competed for the 21 BBVA Foundation Grants for Research Projects in Biomedicine, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Social and Economic Sciences and Digital Humanities in their inaugural edition.

These Research Project Grants – with an annual allocation of 2.2 million euros –enlarge the focus of the BBVA Foundation’s consolidatedfunding program in support of basic science and the dissemination of scientific knowledgeto incorporate projects with an appliedemphasis undertaken in Spain, addressing the notable deficit identified in research of this nature. The viability of many of these projectscould be compromised if not for this initiative, given thatapplied knowledge and the translation of basic advances to innovation tend to receive less support from public assessment and funding agenciesat times, like now, of budgetary austerity.

The wealth of submissions received in this first edition confirms the timeliness of the grant award scheme, whose distinguishing traits are itsopen, competitive design and the number and diversity of the areas addressed.

The call has certain novel features in terms of both the knowledge areas covered, notably Digital Humanities in Spain, and approach: with grants going to independent clinical or translational research in the case of Biomedicineand, in that of Ecology and Conservation Biology, to projects bringing together researchers and conservationist organizations. By typology, it is addressed to medium-size projects of a highly innovative nature with the promise of delivering significant advances or, at least, of developing and consolidating research groups of excellencemade up of individuals from different age cohorts.

A highly competitive call

The 21 projects were selected by evaluation committees formed by experts in each areadeliberating in a fully independent manner. This was a highly competitive process with 1,056 submissions received from research teams summing7,607 members. For every grant in Biomedicinea total of 98 proposals were presented, alongside 20 per grant in Ecology and Conservation Biology, 23 inSocial and Economic Sciences and50 in the case of Digital Humanities.

Area / Applications / Researchers / Average researchers per project
Biomedicine / 589 / 4,102 / 6.96
Ecology and Conservation Biology / 97 / 688 / 7.09
Social and Economic Sciences / 117 / 863 / 7.39
Humanities / 253 / 1,954 / 7.72
Total / 1,056 / 7,607 / 7.20

Submitted projects had an average of 7 researchers, with teams drawn from all of Spain’s autonomous regions. Leading by a distance were Catalonia and the Madrid Region, home to 28.5% (301) and 24.7% (261) respectively of principal investigators. Next by number of projects came Andalusia (111), followed by theValencia Region (96), the Basque Country (50), Galicia (43) and the Canary Islands (40).

The initiatives selectedrange from the search for therapies for the most lethal form of brain tumor to the development of personalized anti-Parkinson’s treatments, by way of ecosystem restoration on the Mediterranean sea bed, the creation of instruments to measure and prevent online gender violence, and a study of how innovationhas contributed to the success of Spanish companies in the United States, Latin America and Europe.

In Biomedicine, six projects in the areas of oncology, cardiology and degenerative diseases, to be completed within a maximum of three years, have been granted up to 150,000 funding.

The same duration will apply to the five awardee projects in Ecology and Conservation Biology – assigned up to 100,000 euros each. The five share a focus without precedents in public or private funding models: a partnership between researchers, public institutions and conservationist organizationsin actions to restore and conserve species and/or habitats.

The five projects selected in Social and Economic Sciences will receive up to 100,000 euros to implement two-year studies centering on innovation, competitiveness and new growth patterns in today’s global landscape.

In Digital Humanities, five projects have been granted two years’ funding of up to 60,000 euros for initiatives applying IT and statistical tools to both the treatment of traditional objects and analysis of objects within the digital space.

A program with three modalities and 5.5 million euros

The BBVA Foundation Grants for Research Projects are the third leg of the BBVA Foundation Grants Program rolled out in the last few months. In November, the names were announced of the 56 beneficiaries of BBVA Foundation Grants to Researchers, Innovators and Cultural Creators, recognizing highly productive, creativeindividuals at intermediate stages of their careers, whom they offer the opportunity to undertake innovative projects with wide margins of freedom and flexibility in managing the assigned allocation. In this case, grants were offered in ten areas amounting to 40,000 euros each. This was followed, in October, by the announcement of the ten recipients of BBVA Foundation Grants for Video Art Creation. The BBVA Foundation Grants Program is of an annual nature and, on this first occasion, has been allocated a budget of5.5 million euros.

Resolution of BBVA Grants for Research Projects in the Area of Social and Economic Sciences

The evaluation committee, whose membership appears below, has resolved to award the five grants envisaged in the call to the following principal investigators and projects. Total projects presented: 117

- Project: Innovative Spanish Multinationals in the United States and Germany: The Keys to Their Long-Term Competitiveness. Principal investigator: Paloma Fernández Pérez (University of Barcelona).

- Project: R&D Strategies in a Global Economy: Intramural Investment, Competition and International Business Profitability. Principal investigator: Rafael Moner Colonques (University of Valencia).

- Project: Technological Collaboration Networks and Innovation. Determinants and Effects on the Competitiveness of Spanish Firms. Principal investigator: Rosina Moreno Serrano (University of Barcelona).

- Project: Corporate Social Responsibility and New Economy Corporations: Interrelations and Impact on Innovative Capacity. Principal investigator: José Moyano Fuentes (University of Jaén).

- Project: Globalization of the Spanish Corporate Sector in Latin America: Subsidiaries, Springboards, Innovation and Local Spillovers.Principal investigator: José Pla Barber (University of Valencia).

Evaluation Committee for Research Projects in Social and Economic Sciences

Salvador Carmona, Dean of Faculty, IE Business School
José García Montalvo, Professor of Economics
Francisco Pérez, Professor of Economic Analysis
José Lluís Raymond Barà, Professor of Foundations of Economic Analysis
Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Professor of Economic Geography
Antonio Villar Notario, Professor of Foundations of Economic Analysis

Resolution of BBVA Grants for Research Projects in the Area ofEcology and Conservation Biology

- Project: New Techniques for the Control of Emerging Amphibian Diseases in Populations at Risk of Extinction.Principal investigator: Jaime Bosch Pérez (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales)

- Project: Ecological Restoration of Structural Benthic Species on the Continental Shelf. Principal investigator: Andrea Gori (University of Barcelona)

- Project: Pilot Restoration Project to Mitigate the Effects of Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent in Intermittent Rivers. Principal investigator: Francesc Sabater Comas (University of Barcelona)

- Project: Reactivation through the Enhancement of Ecosystem Functions in Mining Structures Affecting Habitats of Community Interest. Principal investigator: Miguel Verdú del Campo (Desertification Research Centre-CSIC-UV-GV)

- Project: Frontier Science for the Ecologically-based Management of Common Vole Plagues: Improving the Agrarian Habitat, Biodiversity and Health.Principal investigator: Javier Viñuela Madera (Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos-CSIC-UCLM)

Evaluation Committee for Research Projects in Ecology and Conservation Biology

Marta Coll, Research Professor, Institute of Marine Sciences, CSIC
Eduardo de Juana, President of SEO/Birdlife
Juan Carlos del Olmo, General Secretary of WWF España
Carlos Montes del Olmo, Professor of Ecology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)
Montserrat Vilà, Deputy Director of Research, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Regino Zamora, Professor of Ecology at the University of Granada

Resolution of BBVA Grants for Research Projects in the Area ofDigital Humanities

-Project: Interactive Linguistic Atlas of the Iberian Peninsula. Principal investigator: Pilar García Mouton (Instituto de Lengua, Literatura y Antropología, CSIC)

-Project: Knowledge Generation on Temporary Art Exhibitions for Reuse and Multipurpose Exploitation. Principal investigator: Nuria Ramírez Ortega (University of Malaga)

- Project: Selfie Stories and Personal Data: Hybrid Methodologies for the Analysis of Visual Narratives in Digital Culture. Principal investigator: Gemma San Cornelio Esquerdo (Open University of Catalonia)

- Project: A Unified Model for the Management of Digital Collections with Reconfigurable Structures: Application to the Establishment of Specialized Digital Libraries for Research and Teaching. Principal investigator: José Luis Sierra Rodríguez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

-Project: Gender Violence 2.0. Principal investigator: Ruth Vilà Baños (University of Barcelona)

Evaluation Committee for Research Projects in Digital Humanities

Juan José Acero, Professor of Logic at the University of Granada
Laura Baigorri, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, University of Barcelona
Ignacio Bosque, Honorary Professor of Spanish Language at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), and member of the Real Academia Española
Isabel Burdiel, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Valencia
Manuel de Pinedo, Associate Professor of Logic at the University of Granada
Carmen Isasi, researcher in Textual Critique and Digital Humanities, University of Deusto
Francisca Pérez Carreño, Associate Professor of Aesthetics and Art Theory, University of Murcia
Anaclet Pons, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Valencia
Cristina Ribas, Adjunct Lecturer in Internet Journalism, Pompeu Fabra University

Resolution of BBVA Grants for Research Projects in the Area of Biomedicine

-Project: The NOTCH Signaling Pathway in Left Ventricular Non-Compaction (LVNC) Cardiomyopathy: Genetic Studies and In Vivo and In Vitro Modeling. Principal investigator: José Luis de la Pompa Mínguez (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, CNIC)

- Project: Controlled Release Implants that Dislodge the Glioblastoma Initiating Cell Niche. Principal investigator: Marcos García Fuentes (University of Santiago de Compostela)

- Project: Genome Wide Analysis of Splice Variants in Huntington’s Disease. Principal investigator: José Javier Lucas Lozano (Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa [CBMSO], CSIC)

- Project: Phase II Study with Immunotherapy with Dendritic Cells and Hiltonol in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors: Evaluation of the Abscopal Effect. Principal investigator: Ignacio Melero Bermejo (Clínica Universidad de Navarra)

- Project: IPS-derived Neural Precursor Cells to Study Mechanism and Identify Modulators of Parkinson’s Disease. Principal investigator: Sabine Navarro Hilfiker (Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine López-Neyra [IPBLN], CSIC)

- Project: Involvement of the Fgf21 System in Obesity-Related Heart Disease. Principal investigator: Francesc Villarroya Gombau (University of Barcelona)

Evaluation Committee for Research Projects in Biomedicine

Ángeles Almeida, Group Leader, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Hospital Universitario de Salamanca
Vicente Andrés, Group Leader, Laboratory of Molecular and Genetic Cardiovascular Pathophysiology, Fundación Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III
Carmelo Bernabéu, Research Professor, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), CSIC
Juan Pedro Bolaños, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Salamanca
Lisardo Boscá, Research Professor, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (IBM), CSIC-UAM
Paola Bovolenta, Research Professor, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), CSIC-UAM
Hernán Cortés-Funes, Head of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre
Alberto Ferrús, Group Leader, Genetic Studies on Synapse and Muscle Regulation, Cajal Institute, CSIC
David García-Dorado, Head of Cardiology at Hospital Universitario Vall d’Hebrón
Isabel Illa, Professor of Neurology at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB). Neurology Service, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau
Santiago Lamas, Research Professor, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), CSIC-UAM
Jaume Mora, Head of Oncology at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu
Juan Miguel Redondo, Director, Department of Vascular Biology and Inflammation, Fundación Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III
María Luisa Toribio, Research Professor, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), CSIC-UAM
Guillermo Velasco, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)

For more information, contact the BBVA Foundation Department of Communication and Institutional Relations (+34 91 374521010; 913748173; 915373769 /)or visit