EIB to lend record €1.2B to Spanish research centres

The European Commission and European Investment Bank (EIB) announced on Thursday they are to lend €1.2 billion to Spanish research centres under the InnovFin Science programme.

That will be matched by €1.286 billion from Spain’s national government and autonomous communities, said an EIB spokeswoman.

The distribution of the loans will be managed by Spain’s State Research Agency and split across six areas: biology, chemistry and earth sciences; engineering and technology; agriculture; physics, mathematics and astronomy; social sciences and humanities; and health sciences.

Eligible borrowers are public research organisations, including the National Research Council and the Spanish Oceanography Institute.

The loan is the EIB’s largest single research investment to date, and the third time it has joined forces with the Spanish government to finance science in Spain. It previously invested €625 million in 2013 and €515 million in 2014.

InnovFin is a joint initiative between the European Commission and the EIB, with the commission providing funds under Horizon 2020’s €3.538 billion provision for “access to risk finance.” InnovFin Science is the portion of InnovFin dedicated to science and research, and provides loans or equity from €25 million upwards.