Presidency of SOMMa and Executive Commitee
Below you will find the members of the Coordination Board
Elected Board Members
Coordination Office
TBC
Project Manager
Lorena Carrillo
Communication Manager
The “Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence” and “María de Maeztu Units of Excellence” programmes
The Spanish Excellence Programmes of ‘Severo Ochoa’ Centres and ‘María de Maeztu’ Units identify and promote excellence in scientific research. They seek to boost Spanish science by recognising existing cutting-edge research centres and units, and by further supporting them to enhance their impact, their international scientific leadership, and competitiveness.
Currently (since october 2023), 36 centres and 26 units hold the ‘Severo Ochoa’ Centres and ‘María de Maeztu’ Units of Excellence accreditations, respectively. They cover a wide breadth of scientific disciplines, from life sciences and medicine, mathematics, chemistry, physics, engineering, to humanities and social sciences.
The evaluation and selection of centres and units is carried out by an independent international committee of prestigious scientists, through yearly open competition. The first call was launched in 2011. Successful proponents hold the Excellence award for a period of 4 years. More information can be found here.
Such initiatives to strengthen excellence at institutional- and unit-level are fundamental to originate and maintain stimulating, creative, and cutting-edge environments. The ultimate goal of this scientific ecosystem is to attract and nurture scientific talent and promote ground-breaking research, following principles of excellence, integrity, external peer-review, competitiveness, and international cooperation.
The Alliance
After the launch and consolidation of these programmes, the ‘Severo Ochoa’ Centres and ‘María de Maeztu’ Units of Excellence aim to achieve a new level of collaboration, by creating an alliance.
The main purposes of SOMMa are to:
- Boost national and international visibility of Spanish research as an interdisciplinary and interconnected Spanish research ecosystem of excellence.
- Engage in outreach activities, addressed to different key stakeholders, such as the media, scientific community, politicians and policy-makers, general public, etc.
- Foster the exchange of scientific knowledge, technology and good practices, both in and outside the alliance, with the global scientific community and key stakeholders, therefore facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and spreading excellence.
- Support and contribute to science policy in Spain and internationally.
- Attract and integrate talent, and favour mobility within Spain.
- Find synergies and collaboration opportunities with other research institutes and universities to push forward Spanish science.
An initiative that brings together centres of excellence in Spain, such as those recognized as ‘Severo Ochoa’ Centres and ‘María de Maeztu’ Units of Excellence, will surely result in a synergistic and long-term effect, where the “whole is more than the sum of its parts”. This will boost their impact on the attraction of scientific talent and research progress in Spain and abroad exponentially.
Key facts of the Alliance
SOMM alliance brings together the top-performing and most competitive Spanish research centres and units in all disciplines