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IMDEA institutes

Training and research are the cornerstones of the «knowledge society»; and the generation and transmission of knowledge, the pillars of the competitiveness and welfare of the society at large.

Therefore, the key to success in the future lies on investing in science and technology.

The government of the Madrid region has been working for years in the creation of the most efficient institutional framework to position Madrid among the wealthiest regions in Europe.

This institutional fabric is made up of 16 universities, 46 CSIC centers (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Higher Council for Scientific Research), 46 Technology Awareness Centers (Centros de Difusión Tecnológica) promoted by the regional Ministry of Finance and Taxation (Consejería de Economía y Hacienda), and twenty public research facilities ascribed to various institutions, as well as an unprecedented initiative in Spain: the Madrid Institutes for Advanced Research (IMDEA, Institutos Madrileños de Estudios Avanzados).

The IMDEA Institutes are one of the cornerstones of the new institutional framework for scientific and technological research in the Madrid Community region.

This scheme combines public and private supports into a science landscape driven by social demand.  Public Administrations, universities, scientists and businesses have taken part in the design of this project from the outset.

The ultimate purpose is the fulfillment of the needs of the society through the promotion of R+D+i activities, and the transfer of their findings to the society at large.

The IMDEA Institutes share unique features that clearly set them apart from any other prior initiative undertaken in Spain, since they:

  1. Work following a policy of non-involvement by the Administration.
  2. Operate as a meeting point between public and private interests and funding.
  3. Are governed with fully professionalized management.
  4. Have a marked global outreach, since they were designed to attract and welcome world-class scientists.
  5.  Combine the inherent flexibility of private management with the control and conscientiousness demanded from the institutions that receive public funding.
  6. Are fully open to the industry.