Barcelona reinforces its position as a capital of science and innovation with the installation of the first Fraunhofer center in Spain. The Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Theranostics will be located in the Barcelona Science Park and will be dedicated to theranostics, a discipline that combines diagnosis and therapy to develop personalized medical treatments. The project, the result of an agreement between the Generalitat, the central Government, the Barcelona City Council and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, represents a historic milestone for the city and for applied research in southern Europe.
With a global investment of 26.5 million euros until 2031, the new center symbolizes a collective commitment to knowledge as a driver of progress. The Generalitat will contribute 14 million; the Ministry of Science and Innovation, 4.5 million, and the Barcelona City Council, 8 million. This shared effort "is very good news", as highlighted by the President of the Government, Salvador Illa, who emphasized Catalonia's "scientific vocation".
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, with 75 institutes and more than 32,000 employees, is the main European applied research organization, and an essential player in the connection between science and industry. The arrival of Fraunhofer in Barcelona places the city within an international network of excellence with headquarters in countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden or the United Kingdom.
The new center will combine the experience of the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), leading institutions in bioengineering, biosensors and cellular technologies. Its objective will be to accelerate the translation of scientific results into real medical solutions, promoting precision medicine and the creation of innovative medical devices. In the words of the mayor, Jaume Collboni, this center represents "a qualitative leap in the city's innovation ecosystem".
Barcelona, with one of the highest densities of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in Europe, offers an ideal ecosystem to host the project. Fraunhofer will act as a bridge between laboratories, hospitals and the biotechnology industry, and aims to attract international scientific talent and promote the transfer of knowledge between academia and the private sector. In this context, the president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Holger Hanselka, highlighted Barcelona's role in promoting science.
With this agreement, Barcelona takes a qualitative leap as a scientific and technological hub in Southern Europe, and consolidates its role as an urban laboratory for innovation, research, and knowledge. As Illa summarized during the signing: science is the way, and Barcelona, its capital.