CENTRO PREMIO NOBEL MARIO MOLINA PARA ESTUDIOS ESTRATEGICOS SOBRE ENERGIA Y MEDIO AMBIENTE CHILE SPA

Their core work

The Mario Molina Center Chile is a policy and strategic research organization named after Nobel Chemistry laureate Mario Molina, dedicated to energy and environmental strategy in Latin America. In H2020, they contributed to research on the health effects of traffic-derived ultrafine nanoparticles (TUBE) and to urban electric mobility demonstration in the context of the Paris Agreement (SOLUTIONSplus). Their real-world work sits at the intersection of environmental science, public health evidence, and clean transport policy — with Santiago de Chile serving as a living laboratory for urban air quality and mobility transitions. They bring a non-European, emerging-economy perspective that EU consortia increasingly need to demonstrate international relevance and South American transferability.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both H2020 projects started within a single 12-month window (2019–2020), so there is no long arc of evolution within Horizon 2020 itself. That said, the keyword shift between projects tells a meaningful story: TUBE was squarely focused on the damage end of the transport-environment equation — measuring how nanoparticles from traffic harm the brain — while SOLUTIONSplus pivoted to the solution end, demonstrating how e-mobility can replace polluting vehicles in real cities. This moves from diagnosing the problem to implementing the cure, which is a logical and strategically coherent progression for a policy-oriented think tank.

CMM appears to be moving from evidence-building (measuring environmental health damage) toward solution implementation (e-mobility deployment), positioning itself as a Latin American bridge partner for European clean transport initiatives.

How they like to work

CMM has participated exclusively as a consortium partner across both projects — never as coordinator — which is consistent with its role as a specialized regional contributor rather than a project driver. Both projects are large international consortia (TUBE and SOLUTIONSplus collectively account for 62 unique partners across 24 countries), suggesting CMM is comfortable operating in complex, multi-stakeholder environments while contributing a defined, bounded scope. Working with them likely means engaging a focused policy and local-context expert who handles the Latin American dimension of a broader international initiative.

Despite only two H2020 projects, CMM has touched 62 unique consortium partners across 24 countries — a reflection of the large-scale international nature of both TUBE and SOLUTIONSplus rather than a deeply personal network. Their geographic footprint spans Europe, Latin America, and beyond, driven by the global framing of the Paris Agreement mobility work.

What sets them apart

CMM is one of very few H2020 participants based in Chile, giving it genuine value as a non-European implementation and knowledge-transfer node — particularly for projects that need to demonstrate global scalability beyond EU borders. It carries the credibility of the Mario Molina Nobel Prize legacy, which lends institutional weight in energy and environment policy circles across Latin America. For a European consortium seeking a South American partner with both scientific grounding and policy influence, CMM fills a gap that most European research organizations simply cannot.

Highlights from their portfolio

• TUBE
  The most scientifically specific of the two projects, TUBE directly linked urban traffic nanoparticles to Alzheimer's disease risk — an unusual and high-impact research angle that bridges environmental science with neurological disease.
• SOLUTIONSplus
  A large IA project with international cooperation scope, SOLUTIONSplus demonstrated integrated electric mobility systems in real cities under Paris Agreement commitments, making it CMM's most practically impactful EU engagement.