On June 6-7 ICIQ group leaders, area managers and members from most of the ICIQ units got together in Falset (Priorat) to examine and make proposals to map out our institute’s needs to position itself in the coming years. Several parallel sessions were held to discuss ICIQ’s identity and strategy to strengthen the institute.

The areas for debate were:

• Scientific strategy-towards translational research /chemical biology.
• Recruitment, career and alumni.
• Competitive resources – Horizon 2020.
• Computational resources – equipment and operation.
• Safety and risk prevention at ICIQ.
• Collaborations with the industrial sector.
• Scientific instrumentation facilities.
• Internationalisation and renovation of the Severo Ochoa excellence award.
• Social impact of ICIQ research.

The results of each of the sessions will serve to make a SWOT analysis to outline ICIQ’s next strategic plan. It’s also worth mentioning that beyond the outcomes of this first ICIQ retreat, the overall experience was a great opportunity for team building.