SciTransfer
Organization

INSTITUTO DE EMPRESA SL

Madrid business school contributing management research on informal economies, pharmaceutical markets, and children's digital behavior to EU projects.

Business school / Private research institutionsocietyESNo active H2020 projectsThin data (2/5)
H2020 projects
3
As coordinator
1
Total EC funding
€1.7M
Unique partners
27
What they do

Their core work

Instituto de Empresa (IE) is a prominent Madrid-based private business school that contributes social science and management research expertise to EU-funded projects. Their core research strength lies in understanding market dynamics in informal and illicit economies, as demonstrated by their ERC-funded study on illegal pharmaceutical markets. They also contribute expertise in digital behavior research, particularly children's ICT usage and decision-making, and have participated in interdisciplinary training networks bridging business and life sciences.

Core expertise

What they specialise in

Informal economy and illicit market dynamicsprimary
1 project

Coordinated the ERC-funded IllegalPharma project (EUR 1.37M) studying competitive dynamics in the illegal pharmaceutical drug market.

Children's digital behavior and ICT impactsecondary
1 project

Participated in DIGYMATEX, developing a taxonomy and index for children's digital maturity and daily mobile ICT use.

Interdisciplinary research trainingsecondary
1 project

Contributed to the 4DHeart MSCA training network as a partner, likely providing business or management perspectives to a biomedical imaging consortium.

Pharmaceutical industry regulation and legitimacyprimary
1 project

IllegalPharma specifically examined legitimacy and competitive dynamics in pharmaceutical markets outside formal regulatory frameworks.

Evolution & trajectory

How they've shifted over time

Early focus
Biomedical training networks
Recent focus
Digital society and market research

IE's H2020 participation shows a shift from contributing to life sciences training networks (4DHeart, 2017) toward independent social science research on markets and digital society. Their early involvement was as a partner in a biomedical imaging consortium, while their more recent work — coordinating IllegalPharma and participating in DIGYMATEX — centers on business research, market behavior, and digital literacy. This trajectory suggests a move toward establishing IE as a standalone research actor in social science rather than a supporting partner in STEM projects.

IE is moving toward applied social science research on digital behavior and informal markets, making them a strong fit for future projects needing business school expertise in societal impact assessment.

Collaboration profile

How they like to work

Role: specialist_contributorReach: European12 countries collaborated

IE operates in a balanced mode — they have coordinated one project (IllegalPharma, ERC) and participated in two others in different roles. With 27 unique consortium partners across 12 countries, they show broad European reach relative to their small project count. This suggests they are selective about projects but comfortable working in diverse, multinational consortia.

Despite only three projects, IE has built a network of 27 partners across 12 countries, reflecting the large consortium sizes of their MSCA and RIA projects. Their network is geographically diverse across Europe without a strong regional concentration.

Why partner with them

What sets them apart

IE brings business school research methodology to EU projects — a relatively uncommon profile among H2020 participants, which are dominated by universities and technical institutes. Their ERC grant on illegal pharmaceutical markets demonstrates capacity for original, independently-led research on unconventional topics at the intersection of business, regulation, and society. For consortium builders, IE offers credibility in management science, market analysis, and societal impact dimensions that technical partners typically cannot cover.

Notable projects

Highlights from their portfolio

  • IllegalPharma
    ERC Starting Grant worth EUR 1.37M — IE's largest project and only coordinator role, tackling the unusual topic of competitive dynamics in illegal drug markets.
  • DIGYMATEX
    Addresses children's digital maturity and daily ICT use — a growing policy-relevant topic with potential societal impact applications.
Cross-sector capabilities
Digital society and ICT impact assessmentPharmaceutical market analysisBusiness and management research methodsPolicy-relevant social science
Analysis note: Only 3 H2020 projects with very diverse topics make it difficult to establish a clear expertise profile. IE is a well-known business school (IE University/IE Business School), so their institutional reputation exceeds what this limited project data shows. The 4DHeart involvement as a partner in a biomedical imaging project is atypical and may reflect a training/management role rather than scientific contribution. One project (4DHeart) shows no EC funding amount, suggesting a third-party or in-kind contribution.
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