Ictea gains “muscle” so that Asturias can become a “reference” researcher in space science and technology

Oviedo, May 6. (European Press) –

The director of the Institute of Space Science and Technology of Asturias (Ictea), Javier de Cos, noted that the consolidation of the organization during the five years of its existence allows its teams, made up of about 90 specialists, to gain “muscle” in projects. At the national, European and international levels so that the emirate becomes a research “reference”.

At the beginning of the first days of the Ictea Institute about the scientific challenges of the coming years, its director highlighted that although the institute is 5 years old, the research groups that make it up have been working for more than 20 years, although previously it was in a more isolated way while You now start to ‘have muscle’. “We are already starting to notice it and we are starting to be a reference at the national level for sure, well, we are in European and international projects,” he points out, highlighting the importance of international cooperation and communication.

In statements to the media, Javier de Cos gave examples of Ictea’s activity, which is the development of technology that will be installed at CERN to detect and analyze data in specific experiments; Developing the systems that will power the upcoming neutrino detector, a more than €500 million project that will be installed in Kamioka, Japan, 650 meters underground; Or the instruments that the European Solar Telescope will use.

The search for lithium on the Moon or the origin of life in space by analyzing ice from trans-Neptunian objects are other projects being worked on at Ictea, with more than 50% of “young talent” ensuring “generational change”.

“It is very easy for us to bring in talent because we get a lot of funding,” he stressed, stressing that having the resources allows us to recruit and present attractive proposals in cutting-edge projects at European and international level, the turn of which translates “into a straight return for Asturias.”

For his part, the Minister of Science, Business, Training and Employment, Borja Sánchez, emphasized that Ictea’s initiatives are “ambitious and disruptive”, assessing that they represent “progress” for the autonomous community in areas such as energy or materials.

“We need to communicate all these developments to society because the need to fund science also stems from society,” said the advisor, who claims he is happy to continue increasing investment and encouraging the employment of human resources. In this sense, he noted that BOPA publishes on Monday the call for pre-doctoral contracts at Severo-Ochoa, which has been increased from 70 to 80.