Bayer MaterialScience gives funding for two pre-doctoral fellowships within ICIQ’s PhD Fellowship Programme, for a period of two years. This agreement is an example of collaboration within the framework of MedChem, the chemical cluster of Tarragona, which has among its objectives to foster collaboration between industry in Tarragona and knowledge-generating institutions.

Mr. Jesús Loma-Ossorio, CEO of Bayer MaterialSCience, and Prof. Miquel A. Pericàs, ICIQ director, signed the agreement that certifies Bayer’s commitment with training the students that will lead chemical research in the future.

Mr. Loma-Ossorio said that ” Bayer’s collaboration with other centers reflects that the scientific research and training are essential to provide Bayer’s researchers with new ideas for the development of new products in the areas of health, nutrition and high-tech materials.”

For his part, said Prof. Pericàs, “This sponsorship closes the circle of a bilateral collaboration established since the creation of the Institute. This collaboration results in Bayer participation in ICIQ’s Board of Trustees and in the Business Advisory Board of the Institute and finally, in the establishment of joint research projects targeting industrial interests.”

Mr. Loma-Ossorio (left) and Prof. Pericàs

Since 2009 ICIQ’s PhD Fellowship Programme has enabled ICIQ to attract highly qualified PhD students around the world. The programme offers 14-18 scholarships annually and it allows selected students to develop a research project in one of ICIQ’s research groups under the supervision of an ICIQ group leader.