What's the CRG?
The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) is an international biomedical research institute of excellence, created in July 2000. It is a non-profit foundation funded by the Catalan Government through the Department of Business & Knowledge and the Department of Health, the Spanish Ministry of Science & Innovation, the "la Caixa" Banking Foundation, and includes the participation of Pompeu Fabra University.
The mission of the CRG is to discover and advance knowledge for the benefit of society, public health and economic prosperity.
The CRG believes that the medicine of the future depends on the groundbreaking science of today. This requires an interdisciplinary scientific team focused on understanding the complexity of life from the genome to the cell to a whole organism and its interaction with the environment, offering an integrated view of genetic diseases.
The CRG is a unique centre in Spain, based in an innovative organization research model. Group leaders at the CRG are recruited internationally and receive support from the centre to set up and run their groups. An external evaluation panel, made up of renowned leaders in the different areas, evaluates them. The result of evaluations conditions the future of the CRG scientists, no matter whether they have open-ended or time-limited contracts. This ensures the mobility and the renewal of the workforce.
National Centre for Genomic Analysis (CNAG-CRG)
The CNAG-CRG is a non-profit organization funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economics Affairs & Digital Transformation and the Catalan Government through the Economy and Knowledge Department and the Health Department. Competitive grants and contractual research with the private sector provide additional funds. From the 1st July 2015, the CNAG is integrated into the CRG.
The CNAG-CRG was created on 2009 with the mission to carry out projects in DNA sequencing and analysis in collaboration with researchers from Catalonia, Spain and from the international research community in order to ensure the competiveness of our country in the strategic area of genomics. It started operations in March 2010 with twelve last-generation sequencing systems, which has enabled the center to build a sequencing capacity of over 1000 Gbases/day, the equivalent of completely sequencing ten human genomes every 24 hours. This capacity positions the CNAG-CRG as one of the largest European centers in terms of sequencing capacity. The Center has a staff of highly qualified individuals, 50% of which hold PhD degrees. The bioinformatics team together with our outstanding computing infrastructure (2.6 petabyte of data storage and over 1250 cores of computing) also positions the CNAG-CRG as a center of excellence in data analysis.
The CNAG-CRG takes part in genome sequencing and analysis projects in areas as diverse as cancer genetics, rare disorders, host-pathogen interactions, the preservation of endangered species, evolutionary studies and the improvement of species of agricultural interest, in collaboration with scientists from universities, hospitals, research centers and companies in the sector of biotechnology and pharma.
The CRG, part of The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST)
The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology’s mission is to promote cutting-edge research in science and technology within an environment of multidisciplinary scientific excellence. Its scientific community is made up of members of the participating research centers: the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), the High Energy Physics Institute (IFAE), the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology’s aims are:
- To contribute towards improving conditions for carrying out high-quality research at the research centers and to increase its international visibility.
- To offer coordinated postgraduate programs of excellence with international impact.
- To build a critical mass to multiply the capacity of the research centers in different fields, such as knowledge transfer, scientific and technological platforms and talent attraction.
- To cooperate with scientific institutions, companies, individuals and public or private entities to fulfill these aims.
The CRG within the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB)
The CRG is part of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), one of the scientific parks in the city, which is physically connected to the Hospital del Mar. The PRBB groups together different institutions, including the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) of Pompeu Fabra University, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), and one of the sites of European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL Barcelona), creating a critical mass of biomedical research.
The building is located in the sea front of the Barceloneta beach, next to the Olympic Harbour and besides the Hospital del Mar, in a modern district of the city with high standing recreational and cultural equipments.
The PRBB, an urban scientific park
The Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) is an initiative of the Catalan Government, the Pompeu Fabra University and the Barcelona City Council.
The PRBB is an innovative project that seeks to reinforce the role of Barcelona and Catalonia in the biomedicine scene.The main purposes of PRBB are:
- to become a national and international relevant node in the field of biomedicine, characterized by its excellence in scientific research and core facilities, including a modern animal facility;
- to concentrate resources in emergent knowledge areas of biology and medicine; and
- to offer an innovative high-level training in Health and Life Sciences.
Significant aspects:
- There are specially designed premises for scientific research and technological development.
- The building accommodates nearly 1,400 people from 48 different countries, amongst which there are scientists, professors, students, technical support and general services personnel.
The building was officially inaugurated in May 2006 and the different institutions moved in along the year.
