María Iraburu, president: “ BIOMA Center aims to be a place of meeting and a powerful platform for communicating good science more widely and effectively to society.”

“ BIOMA Center aims to be a place of meeting and a powerful platform for communicating good science more widely and effectively to society.” With these words , María Iraburu, the “ president ” of the University of Navarra, described the BIOMA Center —a project currently under construction across from the Cima and the Acunsa building.

The University of Navarra today celebrated the laying of the “cornerstone” for the building, one of the strategic projects promoted by the university that will host science-related activities at teaching, research , and knowledge dissemination . The ceremony included the planting of an oak tree, next to which a “time capsule” was buried.

The event was attended by the President of the Government of Navarre, María Chivite; the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Universities, Juan Cruz Cigudosa; the President of the Regional Parliament, Unai Hualde; the Government Delegate in Navarre, Alicia Echeverría; and other representatives from institutions, companies, and donors who contributed to the funding of the project. Its creator, architect Patxi Mangado, also participated.

president presented the BIOMA Center as a major forum “to study, reflect, debate, and learn about the world we are building” and also as a venue for scientific knowledge dissemination : “The University aims to bring the specialized knowledge of the research closer to businesses and the public.”

Iraburu thenreflected on the significance of the holm oak: “The tree is also a symbol of what the University of Navarra is and aspires to remain through BIOMA Center. A university that is rooted in this land—to which it has been committed for nearly 75 years—and, at the same time, open to the world, its problems, and its needs. The tree also speaks to us of the future, of growth. The University’s founder, St. Josemaría, said that his mission statement was to plant trees so that others might enjoy them. And that is what we are celebrating today: we are making possible a project that looks to the future, to the new generations—the students who will be educated here, who will innovate and become entrepreneurs, and the boys and girls who will discover the value of science and the beauty of nature.”

María Iraburu concluded by thanking institutions, companies, and donors for their contributions to project. “I encourage you to keep dreaming about what we at Bioma and through Bioma can do to serve society.”

BIOMA Center is a space dedicated to teaching, to research —particularly the research conducted by the BIOMA Institute of Biodiversity and the Environment—and to the communication and knowledge dissemination of science through the Science Museum. It will also house the facilities of Innovation Factory, the University of Navarra’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Designed by architect Patxi Mangado, the building has a total floor area of 20,000 square meters distributed across five levels (two basement levels, ground floor leave, first floor, and second floor). Construcciones VDR is the business contractor awarded the construction contract, with a budget budget of 45 million euros.

Construction began earlier this year with a projected completion time of 28–30 months.

project , a “Marca Navarra” product

Following a presentation from project at auditorium from Cima, to position by Patxi Mangado, the “groundbreaking” ceremony continued with a brief roundtable featuring three speakers representing the activities that will be housed in the building: research, teaching , and knowledge dissemination científica.

Ignacio López-Goñi, professor and director at the University of Navarra’s Science Museum, described the BIOMA Center as a project educational transformative project: “This is a university museum based on research. We are the only species capable of destroying the planet, but we are also the only species that, through our work, our science, and our technology, can seek solutions to environmental problems.”

López-Goñi also praised the University’s commitment to Navarra: “This project can only be done in Pamplona. Within 100 km of here, virtually all European ecosystems are represented: from the Pyrenees mountains to the Bardenas Desert, from the Irati Forest to the Cantabrian coast. That is why this project is also part of the ‘Marca Navarra’ brand.”

For her part, Inmaculada Pascual, a researcher at the University of Navarra’s BIOMA Institute ( Biodiversity and Environment Institute ) and associate dean of the School of Environmental Sciences ( School of Science), noted: “Science can no longer limit itself to diagnosing the planet’s deterioration; its role today is to provide real solutions, based on scientific rigor and applicable to our environment. This is precisely where the BIOMA Institute offers unique value: interdisciplinary research in environmental and sustainability subject . Environmental challenges do not recognize isolated silos,” she commented.

“For me, living side by side every day with the research and scientific culture means understanding that science goes far beyond the laboratory,” said Iria Rodríguez, a senior at Biochemistry . She also highlighted what the project means to students at the University of Navarra: “The BIOMA Center is the home where science is researched, shared, and lived. And for us, the students, it is a unique opportunity to grow as future professionals and also as people.”

An oak tree and a time capsule

Following the groundbreaking ceremony ( colloquium), instead of laying the “ ,” “the first tree” was planted: a 1.5-meter-tall holm oak that will grow next to the building. Once construction is complete, the tree—currently in a pot—will be transplanted to one of the center’s interior gardens. As explained, the choice of this species by researchers at the BIOMA Institute is no coincidence: it combines environmental symbolism, regional identity, and scientific rigor.

In addition, a “time capsule” has been prepared and placed in the same pot as the holm oak. Ignacio López-Goñi, Iria Rodríguez, and Inmaculada Pascual have placed inside it an object representative of the year 2026 that they estimate will be obsolete by 2076: a pair of glasses used to view the August 12 eclipse during an activity at the Science Museum, the plans from programs of study of the School of Science , and an item from laboratory. Patxi Mangado has placed a floor plan of the building in the same time capsule.

president María Iraburu, President María Chivite, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Universities Juan Cruz Cigudosa, and the university’s Vice R University Secretary , Jesús Mari Ezponda, signed the “certificate ” (Foundation Stone Declaration), which was also placed in the capsule, along with two copies of that day’s editions of the newspapers Diario de Navarra and Diario de Noticias.

Fundraising and donations

Donors and institutions that have helped fund part of the “ project ” ( BIOMA Center ) were the main attendees at the “groundbreaking” ceremony. As of today, donations have reached 26.1 million (20.6 signed and 5.5 pledged).

Among the companies that have contributed to date are: the Government of Spain, the Government of Navarre, Atlantic Copper, Koral, Balearia, BBVA, Campus Home, Corporación Hijos de Rivera, group Elecnor, Endesa, “la Caixa” Foundation, Loro Parque Foundation, group Logístico Sesé, group Reifs, group Ubesol, Laboral Kutxa, Laboratorios RNB, Mascato, Cementos Molins, Telefónica, Torreal, Megasa, and group Enhol.

In addition, the following organizations support and collaborate with the activities of the University of Navarra Science Museum: the Caja Navarra Foundation, as the main partner; ACUNSA Health Insurance; FECYT Innovation; the LILLY Foundation; the SACYR Foundation; and Laboral Kutxa. And the Sanitas Foundation, Cinfa, Timac Agro, and Viscofan support the “ research ” (Biodiversity and Environment) initiative of the BIOMA Institute of Biodiversity and Environment.

All information about the “ BIOMA Center ” can be found on the website.