The board of trustees of the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI, in Catalan) has approved a joint proposal stipulating its merger with the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and part of the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) to create a new foundation that will consolidate and implement public policies to foment and recognize research in Catalonia. The merger, which takes effect in 2010, reflects the new guidelines established nearly one year ago in the Catalan Agreement for Research and Innovation (PNRI).
The FCRI proposal outlines the appointment of private and public sector professionals to various posts: Josep Huguet, Minster of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, will head the new foundation; Lluís Deulofeu, executive director of “la Caixa”, will serve as first vice-president; Joan Roca, general director of research at the Department of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, will be second vice-president; and Xavier Queralt, regional director for Catalonia at BBVA, will be secretary. The board of trustees reiterated their wish that the resulting foundation continue providing a space where the public research sector and the business world can meet.