"La Caixa" foundation will donate 1.5 million euros for the construction and furnishing of the BIOMA Center at the University of Navarra. An agreement has been signed between the academic center and the institution. In recognition of the donation, the University will nominate a research room in honour of the Foundation. The "la Caixa" Foundation Space for Biodiversity and Environmental Research will be situated on the ground floor of the BIOMA Center. The facility will house a spacious equipment laboratory, an instrumentation laboratory, and adjacent workspaces. The BIOMA Center construction is scheduled to begin during the 2023-24 academic year.

The agreement was signed in the Salón de Grados of the University by the General Director of “la Caixa” Foundation, Antonio Vila, and the President of Friends of the University of Navarra Association, Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero. During the event, the University of Navarra President, María Iraburu, thanked the "la Caixa" Foundation "for its generosity in collaborating with this project, with which the University wants to contribute to sustainability and the environment, with the contribution of science and from an humanistic approach, open to a dialogue with other sciences".

For his part, the General Director of the "la Caixa" Foundation, Antonio Vila, emphasized: "At ‘la Caixa’ Foundation we are convinced that Science and Social welfare are two inseparable realities. Science is synonymous with progress and health, and in the hands of the University of Navarra it is also synonymous with excellence and rigour. We are very happy to be part of this project”.

Before signing the agreement, the participants held a meeting at the BIOMA Center balcony, next to the University's Science building, where they discovered the project on site.

A space for teaching, investigation and science dissemination

The BIOMA Center is a project that combines research, and environmental and scientific outreach in a 13,000 m2 building to be built next to the Cima. With a budget of 30 million euros, the building will devote a third of the space to teaching, another third to environmental research and a third area will be dedicated to the Science Museum and scientific outreach activities. It will also host Innovation Factory, for the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation.