Luis Serrano, Director of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), has celebrated the twenty-year anniversary of the research centre as a modern success story made possible by political ambition and goodwill. The comments were made today at a special symposium organised at the Parc de Recerca Biomedica de Barcelona (PRBB) to mark the CRG’s twentieth anniversary.
“Twenty years ago, Catalonia decided to think big and bet on the creation of world-leading research institutes that would generate knowledge and transition the economy from one based on sun-and-sand tourism to one that creates new technologies and businesses that can compete at a global scale. I think we’ve succeeded at that,” said ICREA Research Professor Luis Serrano.
At the same time, Dr. Serrano used the symposium to warn that, despite the success of the Catalan research system, there is a danger of complacency that affects research competitiveness and ultimately leads to lost opportunities in the creation of new technologies, jobs and economic prosperity.