New Barcelona biomedical research centre funded by philanthropic donation

A new €60 million biomedical research centre opened in Barcelona earlier this month, after a €15 million philanthropic donation got the project off the ground.

The Esther Koplowitz Centre received the €15 million donation from Esther Koplowitz, the principal shareholder in the Spanish construction and environmental services conglomerate FCC. This is said to be one of the largest private donations ever made by an individual in Europe in the field of biomedical research.

Koplowitz’s donation was the first step in establishing the eponymous centre, a €60 million public-private partnership with the European Union, the Spanish government, and the regional government of Catalonia. Spain’s Minister of Science and Innovation, Cristina Garmendia, said at the opening, “This [funding model] is an example to be followed in Spain, where science philanthropy and private-public partnerships are still very new.”