Donostia International Physics Center

What Donostia International Physics Center does

Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) is a non-profit research institute founded in 2000 and headquartered in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, affiliated with the University of the Basque Country (EHU). The institute conducts frontier physics research across four principal domains — Quantum, Nano, Life, and Cosmos — and operates a Supercomputing Center (SCC) that is described as one of the most powerful supercomputers in Spain and a strategic infrastructure of the Basque Science System. DIPC also runs PhD programs, postdoctoral training, scientific seminars, workshops, schools, and a science communication program that transmits scientific culture to the general public.

DIPC's technical capabilities include a machine learning-guided pipeline for superconductor material discovery, which has been experimentally validated by confirming the existence of YRu3B2 and LuRu3B2 superconductors before laboratory synthesis, in collaboration with the SuperC consortium (Aalto University, Rice University, Princeton University, Ruhr University Bochum). The center also utilizes cryogenic Lorentz Transmission Electron Microscopy for imaging 2D van der Waals magnets, with micromagnetic simulations supported by the University of Edinburgh. These capabilities are supported by high-performance computing infrastructure and an international research community of local and visiting scientists.

The institute's funding model is institutional: as a non-profit research center, DIPC does not sell commercial products or services and instead operates on grants, public funding, and consortium-based research support. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Recent milestones include a new building inauguration in June 2026, the launch of the HER Initiative to host outstanding female researchers, and European funding for a sustainable hydrogen production project.

Name

Donostia International Physics Center

Legal name

Donostia International Physics Center

Website

https://dipc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) is a non-profit research institute in San Sebastián, Spain, conducting frontier physics research across Quantum, Nano, Life, and Cosmos domains, operating one of Spain's most powerful supercomputers, and serving the Basque Science System and international research consortia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Donostia-san Sebastián

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) is a non-profit research institute that performs frontier physics research across Quantum, Nano, Life, and Cosmos domains and transmits scientific culture to society. It runs an integrated portfolio of offerings: research programs, a Supercomputing Center (SCC) providing high-performance computing resources to the Basque Science System, scientific activities (workshops, seminars, schools, colloquia, courses), career programs (PhD program, bachelor's theses, university internships, transferable skills courses), and a Science and Society outreach program.

Product overview

DIPC is a singular research center dedicated to frontier physics research and scientific culture transmission. The center operates an integrated portfolio of services comprising research programs across Quantum, Nano, Life, and Cosmos domains; a Supercomputing Center (SCC) providing high-performance computing resources; Scientific Activities including workshops, seminars, schools, and courses; Career Programs offering PhD, internship, and training opportunities; and Science and Society outreach. These offerings work together to advance cutting-edge physics research while cultivating scientific talent and engaging the broader public.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully validated machine learning-guided pipeline for superconductor discovery by experimentally confirming YRu₃B₂ and LuRu₃B₂ superconductors before laboratory synthesis

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Aalto UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated as part of the SuperC international research consortium to experimentally confirm new superconductors discovered through machine learning. DIPC researchers contributed to the research published in Physical Review Research on June 17, 2026.
• Rice UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered in the SuperC consortium for machine learning-guided superconductor discovery research. Contributed to the publication confirming YRu₃B₂ and LuRu₃B₂ superconductors.
• Princeton UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated in the SuperC consortium for machine learning-guided materials discovery. DIPC contributed researchers to the peer-reviewed publication.
• Ruhr University BochumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered in the international SuperC consortium for superconductor research. Part of the team that validated the ML-guided discovery pipeline.
• University of EdinburghminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided micromagnetic simulations validating experimental results from Argonne National Laboratory's research on 2D van der Waals magnets using cryogenic Lorentz Transmission Electron Microscopy.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Max Planck Institute for Physics: German frontier physics research institute with a similar model of hosting international researchers and focusing on theoretical and experimental physics; directly comparable in research mission and institutional structure.
• Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC): Spain's flagship supercomputing center, providing HPC resources to the Spanish research community. Closely comparable to DIPC's Supercomputing Center (SCC) in role, scale of HPC service provision, and positioning within a national/regional science system.
• Perimeter Institute: Canadian independent theoretical physics research center that combines frontier research, training programs, and public outreach; highly comparable to DIPC's mix of frontier research, PhD programs, and science-and-society outreach.
• Flatiron Institute: US-based computational science research institute organized into focused divisions with strong HPC infrastructure; comparable to DIPC in its emphasis on computation-driven discovery and dedicated research centers operating under a non-academic umbrella.
• RIKEN: Japan's large multidisciplinary research institute with significant HPC capabilities and programs in quantum, materials, and computational science; comparable in scale and breadth of frontier research domains (Quantum/Nano/Life/Cosmos).
• Forschungszentrum Jülich: German interdisciplinary research center operating one of Europe's most powerful supercomputers and significant materials/physics programs; closely comparable to DIPC's combined HPC-infrastructure and frontier-materials research mission.
• Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB): German research center running large-scale user facilities for materials and photon science with associated HPC; comparable to DIPC's role as a user-facing research infrastructure provider in the materials/physics domain.
• Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP): US-based theoretical physics institute operating a visiting-researcher model and topical programs; closely comparable to DIPC's dynamic international researcher community and conference/workshop-driven scientific activities.
• Institut de Ciència dels Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC): Spanish materials science research institute under CSIC, focusing on functional materials and nanoscience; comparable to DIPC's materials/nano research domain and its positioning within the Spanish research ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Brookhaven National Laboratory: US Department of Energy national laboratory with major HPC, condensed matter, and materials science programs; a broader incumbent that overlaps with DIPC's HPC and materials research activities at larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/donostia-international-physics-center-dipc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Donostia International Physics Center