The director of the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI), José Manuel Fernández de Labastida, visited the headquarters of the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE) this Thursday, July 2.
Labastida was accompanied by Lourdes Armesto, Director of Scientific and Technical Management of the AEI, and Gonzalo Arévalo, advisory member to the general director, and María José Mariño Fontenla, director of the Talent and Transfer area of the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) of the Xunta de Galicia.
They were all received by the director of the IGFAE, Carlos Salgado, and the deputy director, Abraham Gallas. During their visit, they held a discussion with the IGFAE staff about the calls promoted by the AEI, in addition to visiting some of the center’s laboratories.
The visit to the IGFAE was part of Labastida and his team’s agenda in Galicia, in which they also visited other USC centers such as CiQUS, CiMUS, CiTIUS, CRETUS and iMATUS, as well as the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit) of the CSIC. The program also included a meeting with representatives of the USC and the Xunta de Galicia.
Link with Galicia and USC
During his visit, Labastida recalled his ties to Galicia and the USC, to which he belonged for almost two decades, being a professor of Theoretical Physics, including his time as dean of the Faculty of Physics and the Graduate School. His work contributed to laying the foundations of the IGFAE, to which he belonged at the time of its creation. Since 2024, he has also been a member of the Royal Galician Academy of Sciences.
Later, he continued his career in the field of management and scientific policy, in institutions such as the Ministry of Science, the CSIC or the European Research Council (ERC), of which he was the first person responsible for its scientific department.
The calls and funding programs of the AEI have been and are essential for the performance of the IGFAE, such as the María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence, the Ramón y Cajal, Knowledge Generation or Research Consolidation programs, as well as the University Teacher Training (FPU) contracts for the completion of doctoral theses.
