FUNDACION PARA EL FOMENTO EN ASTURIAS DE LA INVESTIGACION CIENTIFICA Y LA TECNOLOGIA

Their core work

FICYT is the Asturian regional foundation for promoting scientific research and technology, functioning as a science and innovation agency for the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. Their core H2020 work centers on delivering Key Account Management (KAM) services to SMEs — helping small companies in Asturias assess their innovation capacity and access EU SME Instrument funding. They also coordinate transnational cancer research funding through ERA-NET programmes, pooling national and regional research budgets across European countries. In essence, they bridge regional SMEs and researchers with European funding opportunities rather than conducting research themselves.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

From 2014 to 2019, FICYT's work was tightly focused on SME innovation coaching — running the GalacteaPlusKam KAM service year after year, helping regional SMEs access the SME Instrument. From 2020 onward, their portfolio broadened: they continued SME support but added work on exploitation of research results (LEEP-SME) and deepened their role in transnational cancer research funding coordination (TRANSCAN-3, their largest single grant at EUR 158,320). This suggests a shift from purely regional SME hand-holding toward managing larger cross-border research funding programmes.

FICYT is evolving from a regional SME support agency into a more prominent player in managing transnational research funding calls, particularly in health/cancer research.

How they like to work

FICYT predominantly leads projects — coordinating 5 of their 8 H2020 projects, all within the GalacteaPlusKam series. These coordinator roles involve relatively small budgets and focused regional delivery, suggesting they are comfortable managing targeted support actions rather than large research consortia. When they participate (TRANSCAN-2, TRANSCAN-3, LEEP-SME), they join broad European networks, contributing their regional agency expertise to multi-country coordination efforts. With 52 unique partners across 23 countries, they maintain a surprisingly wide network for a regionally-focused body.

Despite their regional mission, FICYT has collaborated with 52 distinct partners across 23 countries, largely through the TRANSCAN ERA-NET networks which bring together national cancer research funders from across Europe. Their coordinator-led projects tend to be smaller partnerships within Spain's northern regions.

What sets them apart

FICYT occupies a distinctive niche as both a regional innovation agency delivering hands-on SME coaching in northern Spain AND a participant in pan-European research funding coordination networks. This dual role means they understand both the ground-level needs of SMEs trying to access EU funding and the strategic level of how transnational research calls are designed and managed. For consortium builders, they offer a direct channel into the Asturian/Cantabrian/Galician innovation ecosystem and established relationships with national research funding bodies across Europe.

Highlights from their portfolio

• TRANSCAN-3
  Their largest grant (EUR 158,320) and longest project (2021-2027), representing a major commitment to coordinating transnational cancer research funding across European national programmes.
• GalacteaPlusKam (series)
  Five consecutive editions (2014-2021) demonstrate sustained commitment to SME innovation support — rare continuity that signals deep regional expertise and reliable delivery.
• LEEP-SME
  Focused specifically on improving how SME project results are exploited in practice, bridging their SME coaching experience with systematic evaluation and monitoring methodologies.