The Government of Navarra highlights its commitment to scientific culture during the visit of the director of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology to the IRIS Hub
The Minister of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Juan Luis García, held a meeting with the Director General of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), Izaskun Lacunza, at the facilities of the IRIS Navarra Digital Innovation Hub, where he highlighted the policies promoted by the regional government to strengthen the connection between science and society.
During the meeting—also attended by the Director General of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Government of Navarra, Agurtzane Martínez; the Managing Director of NASERTIC, Luis Campos; the Director of Personalised Medicine and Laboratories at NASERTIC, Gonzalo R. Ordoñez; and the IRIS Hub Coordinator, Ion Arrizabalaga—Councillor García underscored the grants aimed at fostering scientific culture, promoting R&D&I and encouraging STEM careers. These initiatives, like FECYT’s activity, seek to “strengthen the bond between science and citizens” and bring knowledge into everyday life with a social and gender perspective.
Among the lines of support, García highlighted the Cosmos call and the Planeta STEM programme, which total 370,000 euros in 2026, as well as the work underway to include a dedicated STEM pillar in the forthcoming Navarra Science, Technology and Innovation Plan 2026–2030, with a special focus on boosting scientific vocations among girls and women.
The meeting also served to explore new avenues of collaboration with FECYT, including outreach related to the eclipse on 12 August, an astronomical phenomenon visible from Navarra that the regional government wishes to leverage to engage the public with science.
Tour of the IRIS Navarra Hub Facilities
The FECYT Director visited the main infrastructures of the IRIS Hub, managed by NASERTIC. The visit focused on the Synthetic Biology, Molecular Biology and High‑Throughput Sequencing laboratories, a set of spaces covering 215 m² designed to position Navarra as an international benchmark in synthetic biology.
These laboratories are equipped with cutting‑edge systems to offer advanced services in genomic analysis, DNA synthesis, and the production and characterisation of proteins and cellular systems.
The visit also included the Digital Laboratory, a 50 m² space with six state‑of‑the‑art workstations where developers and researchers can test Artificial Intelligence projects in a controlled environment tailored to their needs. The delegation also toured the Hub’s co‑working area, which spans 225 m² and offers 54 workstations.
About FECYT
The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has the mission of strengthening the relationship between science and society, promoting scientific culture and fostering knowledge transfer through outreach, education, training and advisory activities. It also contributes to the internationalisation of Spanish science, the generation and analysis of data, and the management of open scientific information in collaboration with key stakeholders in the Science, Technology and Innovation System.
Source: navarra.es
