The Government of Spain launches a public invitation to the autonomous regions for the creation of the Spain NeuroTech Institute

2022.5.10

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The First Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, announced at the Madrid Leaders Forum that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation is issuing a public invitation to select the autonomous regions that will join a consortium to set up the Spain NeuroTech Institute.

To apply Artificial Intelligence in the field of neurotechnology, the communities will participate in this flagship project of the Recovery Plan, via the funding and involvement of one or more public universities of reference in the field of neurotechnology based in their respective territories.

Research in neurotechnology is part of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (ENIA), which aims to position Spain as a leading country in this discipline. This strategy foresees the creation of a multidisciplinary research centre in neurotechnology. To this effect, a consortium is considered to be the most appropriate instrument to promote research in this field, to generate knowledge and to apply the results obtained for the benefit of society.

Spain has significant capabilities in the field of neurotechnology, which will be reinforced through Recovery Plan investments to become the European reference centre in the field.

The creation of the consortium will involve the General State Administration through the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, the public entity Red.es, which will be responsible for state funding, and the autonomous regions, to which this invitation is addressed and which will channel their participation through the funding of the projects in the public universities of reference in the field of neurotechnology. These higher education institutions are considered to be ideally suited for the purpose, given the high specialisation of the scientific discipline and the public commitment of the institutions, to ensure that scientific and technical innovations are transferred to society as quickly as possible.

To respect the principles of transparency, publicity and neutrality when deciding on the participants in the consortium, the present invitation is launched. Access will be open to all the autonomous regions which, together with one or more previously selected public universities, are interested and meet the following requirements:

  • One or more public universities located in the autonomous region and over which they have territorial jurisdiction will be selected.
  • An initial contribution of 40 million euros will be guaranteed, which is the amount that the General State Administration will initially provide, in accordance with the aid plan of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
  • A realistic and sustainable three-year budget projection will be provided as an attachment.
  • Both the autonomous regions that apply and the public university or universities they select will be participants in the consortium. They shall demonstrate experience and knowledge in the field of neurotechnology, as well as the provision of material and personal resources that guarantee their specific expertise in this field.
  • They shall undertake to provide the consortium with a physical headquarters for the implementation of the project and its availability for the duration of it, with their own means or future contributions, which shall be set in accordance with the requirements of articles 123 and 124 of Law 40/2015, of 1 October.
  • They will provide all the documentation considered relevant to help assess the criteria established in the call, which will be those objectively used to select the Universities and Autonomous Communities that will form part of the consortium.

To finalise the invitation, a period of 15 working days is opened for the submission of proposals, which will be carried out through the applications section of the electronic headquarters.

About Spain NeuroTech

To promote research in neurotechnology, in November 2021 the State Secretariat for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) with the aim of soliciting proposals for its promotion, identifying the needs of the sector and seeking to promote an ecosystem around artificial intelligence. The broad interest in this call for proposals led to the creation of the consortium and the present Invitation.

Research in neurotechnology is part of the Recovery Plan, the Digital Spain agenda and the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (ENIA),, one of the objectives of which is to generate an environment of confidence in the development of inclusive and sustainable technology.

One of the pillars of ENIA is the promotion of the discipline of neurotechnology through the creation of new national technology development centres in complementary multidisciplinary fields such as psychology, sociology and political science, to name but a few.

Non official translation