What Ikerbasque does

Ikerbasque (Basque Foundation for Science) is a private non-profit research foundation established in 2007 by the Basque Government (Eusko Jaurlaritza) and headquartered in Bilbao, Spain. Its core function is the international recruitment, employment, and retention of scientific talent for the Basque Country's research ecosystem, operating through a sequenced set of open calls: a Research Fellows program offering 15 five-year postdoctoral positions per cycle (14% acceptance in the 2026 round), a Permanent Positions call offering 10 long-term posts for established and senior researchers, and an ERC Fast Track that converts European Research Council grant recipients into permanent contracts. Selection is conducted by independent review panels of 170 evaluators drawn from more than 25 countries and is governed under the European Charter & Code for Researchers (HRS4R).

The foundation's operating model is grant- and contract-funded rather than commercial. Ikerbasque has secured €427 million in cumulative competitive financing from the Basque Government, the European Commission, and host research institutions to cover researcher salaries, equipment, and infrastructure. The asset base is institutional rather than technological: Ikerbasque maintains a Proposal Management System at calls.ikerbasque.net for application processing and a searchable Researcher Profiles Directory of 420+ researchers across 36 nationalities, including 50+ ERC grantees. Host institutions include Basque universities (EHU, UPNA) and CIC/BERC centers of excellence such as nanoGUNE, the Materials Physics Center (CFM), POLYMAT, and Biophysics Institute, where researchers are physically embedded.

Governance is public-sector led: the Patronato (Board of Trustees) comprises representatives of the Basque Government's Department of Science, Universities and Innovation, the three Provincial Councils (Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Álava), the President of Innobasque, and up to seven academic appointees. Scientific direction is led by Scientific Director Fernando P. Cossío. Activities are organized around six four-year strategic plans (most recently 2025-2028) that align with the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Plan 2030. Ikerbasque itself develops no proprietary technology products and sells no commercial services; its products are research positions, fellowships, and grant-related support.

Name

Ikerbasque

Legal name

IKERBASQUE

Website

https://ikerbasque.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ikerbasque is a Basque Government-backed non-profit foundation founded in 2007 that recruits and employs international scientific researchers for Basque universities and research centers, operating competitive calls for Research Fellows, Permanent Positions, and ERC Fast Track placements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Funding and Talent Recruitment Services

NAICS

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541), Office Administrative Services (5611)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Administration & Grants Management Support (Pre/Post-Award, Compliance) (EDAEALAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Institutional Capacity Building & Training (Workforce/Systems Strengthening) (BPADAEAC)

Keywords

• Research talent recruitment
• Scientific funding programs
• Postdoctoral researcher positions
• ERC grant support
• International researcher hiring

Headquarters

HQ city

Bilbao

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Competitive Research Financing: Ikerbasque secures competitive funding from the Basque Government, European Commission, and host research institutions to finance researcher contracts, equipment, and infrastructure. The foundation has obtained 427 million euros in competitive financing to boost research in the Basque Country.
2. Strategic Plan Implementation: Ikerbasque operates through four-year strategic plans aligned with the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Plan 2030 (ZTBP 2030), focusing on attracting international scientific talent, developing and retaining researchers, and strengthening Basque research centers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ikerbasque is a non-profit foundation established by the Basque Government that recruits international scientific talent through competitive calls for Research Fellows (15 five-year postdoctoral positions), Permanent Positions (10 long-term posts for established researchers), and ERC Fast Track (permanent contracts for ERC grant holders). It channels competitive financing — totaling 427 million euros — from the Basque Government, European Commission, and host institutions into researcher salaries, equipment, and infrastructure across Basque research centers and universities.

Product overview

Ikerbasque is a Basque Foundation for Science that operates as a research agency rather than a traditional technology product company. Its core offerings are researcher recruitment and funding programs: the Research Fellows Program (15 five-year positions for postdoctoral researchers), Permanent Positions 2026 (10 permanent positions for established and senior researchers), and the ERC Fast Track Program (permanent contracts for ERC grant recipients). The foundation also maintains a Researcher Profiles Directory with over 420 researchers from 36 nationalities and a proposal management system at calls.ikerbasque.net for processing applications. Funding is sourced from the Basque Government, European Commission, host institutions, and competitive financing achieving 427 million euros for Basque research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Fellows Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 420+ researchers recruited from 36 nationalities
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FECYT (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Ikerbasque, together with EHU, organized an ERC 2026 webinar with FECYT's ERC National Contact Point Leticia Riaza to inform researchers about European Research Council funding opportunities.
• European Commission - European Research CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026The European Research Council supports researchers at Basque institutions through grants. Ikerbasque works with ERC Programme Manager Endika Bengoetxea and hosts webinars to promote ERC funding opportunities in the Basque Country.
• IBMcoreTechnology or IntegrationIBM collaborated with Ikerbasque to install the IBM-Basque Country quantum computer at the Ikerbasque building in the quantum mile in San Sebastián. Researcher Yann Pouillon from nanoGUNE works with IBM to enable SIESTA software to access quantum computers, developing hybrid classical-quantum computing platforms.
• nanoGUNEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnernanoGUNE is a CIC center of excellence that works with Ikerbasque researchers. The center hosts researchers like Emilio Artacho (creator of SIESTA software) and Yann Pouillon who collaborate on quantum computing integration with IBM.
• SimuneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSimune is a nanoGUNE spin-off providing advanced simulation software and services to technology companies. They collaborate in quantum computing integration efforts for electronic correlation simulations using SIESTA.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Helmholtz Association: Germany's largest scientific organization, funded 90% by the federal government and 10% by states. Comparable as a government-funded research-talent and infrastructure organization with deep ties to EU and ERC funding programs, operating at a much larger scale but serving similar 'talent plus infrastructure' functions.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique): France's largest public research organization and a comparator for Ikerbasque in terms of government-backed scientific talent recruitment and hosting at affiliated institutions. CNRS dwarfs Ikerbasque in scale but is the natural European benchmark for any regional research foundation claiming competitive talent.
• Max Planck Society: Germany's flagship non-university research organization, jointly funded by federal and state governments. While much larger, Max Planck is comparable as a government-backed research-talent platform that recruits international principal investigators, hosts them at dedicated institutes, and integrates with ERC and EU funding flows.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI): A major private US research foundation that recruits and funds elite biomedical researchers, including through its own investigator program. While private and US-based, HHMI is comparable in mission: identifying top scientific talent, providing long-term funding, and integrating those researchers into host institutions.
• Wellcome Trust: A large UK-based charitable foundation that funds biomedical and health research globally. Comparable in scale and function as a non-government, mission-driven funder of researchers, though operating via grants and fellowships rather than employer-of-record researcher contracts like Ikerbasque.

Regional players

• Innobasque (Basque Innovation Agency): The Basque Country's innovation agency, with a board seat on Ikerbasque's Patronato. Innobasque is comparable as a regional government-backed organization operating in the Basque R&D ecosystem, though focused on broader innovation and industry collaboration rather than individual researcher recruitment.
• CIC nanoGUNE: A Basque CIC center of excellence co-located with Ikerbasque researchers in San Sebastián. nanoGUNE is one of the principal host institutions for Ikerbasque hires and the operational partner behind the IBM-Basque quantum computer, making it the closest institutional peer inside the Basque ecosystem.
• Jakiunde: The Basque Academy of Sciences and Arts, whose president (Ana Zubiaga Elordieta) sits on Ikerbasque's board. Jakiunde is comparable as a regional scientific honor society that recognizes leading Basque researchers and provides prestige signals that complement Ikerbasque's recruitment mission.

Direct peers

• Ramón y Cajal Programme (Spanish Ministry of Science): Spain's national talent attraction program for senior researchers across Spanish institutions. It is comparable to Ikerbasque in mechanism (competitive calls, multi-year contracts, international evaluation) but operates at national rather than regional scope, making it a complementary and partially competing funnel for the same Spanish and international researchers.
• ICREA (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats): Catalonia's regional government-funded talent attraction program, also operating under a foundation model that recruits senior researchers to Catalan universities. ICREA is the closest structural analog to Ikerbasque: same 'research professor' career path, same reliance on regional government and ERC co-funding, same international evaluation panels, and same goal of building a regional research brand.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ikerbasque
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Ikerbasque
• Facebookfacebook.com/Ikerbasque
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ikerbasque---basque-foundation-for-science
• Instagraminstagram.com/ikerbasque/?hl=en

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Ikerbasque