Neiker Azti and Leartiker have been selected as collaborating institutions for the Ikertalent program

The Vice-Minister of Food and Rural Development of the Basque Government, Raúl Pérez Iracheta, has selected Neiker, Azti, and Leartiker as collaborating organizations for the 2026 Ikertalent program, for the training of predoctoral researchers and technologists in the agriculture, fisheries, and food sectors. The decision is the Resolution of October 2, 2026, and was published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV) issue 197 on October 15, 2026 (official reference: 2026/4316). The three centers will develop 16 projects: eight for predoctoral researchers and eight for technologists.

The basis of the call is the Order of April 1, 2026, from the Minister of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture, and Fisheries, published in issue 84 of the BOPV gazette on May 7, 2026. That Order regulated the selection procedure for collaborating organizations and approved its regulatory basis.

In the procedure, nine organizations presented 37 research projects. According to section 7.2 of the bases, the requests of two organizations were rejected: the Basque Center for Macromolecular Design and Engineering-Polymat Foundation and the Asociación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Biogipuzkoa. Consequently, seven organizations and 35 projects competed. The selection committee produced an evaluation report, and the Director of Food Policy and Food Industry formulated the final resolution proposal.

Selected organizations and projects

• Neiker-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, S.A. (A48167902): seven projects, three predoctoral and four technologists.
• Fundación Azti-Azti Foundation (G48939508): six projects, four predoctoral and two technologists.
• Leartiker, S. Coop. (F95815114): three projects, one predoctoral and two technologists.

Among the predoctorals, the highest score was achieved by a Neiker project (92.0), aimed at improving animal health through natural immunostimulants. Among the technologists, however, one project from Azti (93.0) and another from Neiker (93.0) were the best. The selected projects include, among others, research on marine blue carbon sinks, the control of vector-borne diseases, the microbial terroir of cheesemaking, and biodegradable materials for marine applications.

Non-selected projects

• Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation.
• Basque Culinary Center Foundation.
• Asociación Empresarial Cluster de Alimentación Euskadi.
• Asociación BC3 Basque Centre for Climate Change.

Those organizations were not selected, although Tecnalia ranked third in the evaluation of organizations (35.0 points), behind Neiker (37.0) and Azti (36.5) and ahead of Leartiker (34.5). The selection is made by evaluating the project and the organization together, and Tecnalia’s only technology project (53.0 points) was not sufficient. Basque Culinary Center obtained 26.0 points as an organization, Cluster de Alimentación Euskadi 21.5, and BC3 20.5.

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation of the organizations was carried out according to section 8.1 of the bases: economic capacity, technical capacity —organizational structure and management, R&D&i technological infrastructure, and human resources dedicated to research— and quality certifications in the field of management. The evaluation of the projects, on the other hand, was carried out according to six criteria: the technological contribution of the project, the suitability of the proposal, the impact of the expected results, the quality of the submitted report, the suitability of the means to carry out the project, and the human team of the research group.

Appeal and acceptance

The resolution does not end the administrative process; therefore, an appeal may be filed before the Minister of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries, within a period of one month from the day following the receipt of the notification, according to articles 121 and 122 of Law 39/2015. According to section 9.4 of the bases, if there is no express waiver within 10 days of the notification, the appointment will be considered accepted.

The selection has a direct impact on the training of research personnel in the agri-food sector: Neiker, Azti, and Leartiker will be the training centers for PhDs and technologists in 2026, and the organizations that were not selected, such as Tecnalia or Basque Culinary Center, will have to wait until the next call to develop their projects.

Fuente: BOPV, n.º 197, 15 de octubre de 2026, Otras Disposiciones, pp. 1-11 (official reference: 2026/4316).