UNIVERSIDAD DE LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA

Their core work

ULPGC is a Spanish public university based in the Canary Islands with deep expertise in marine sciences, aquaculture, and ocean-climate research. They study Atlantic Ocean ecosystems, develop sustainable aquaculture techniques for species like gilthead sea bream and European sea bass, and model climate impacts on island and marine environments. They also contribute to biomedical engineering (biomaterials, vestibular implants) and digital communications research, making them a versatile partner with a strong marine and island-systems identity.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014–2018), ULPGC focused on ocean observation infrastructure, aquaculture research facilities, and Atlantic marine monitoring — projects like AtlantOS, AQUAEXCEL2020, and SABANA. From 2019 onward, their work shifted toward ecosystem services, climate modelling, earth system science, and applied aquaculture innovation (genomics, AI, new species), while also branching into biomedical engineering and island archaeology. The trend shows a university maturing from infrastructure participation toward more analytical, climate-integrated, and interdisciplinary research.

ULPGC is increasingly integrating climate science with marine biology and expanding into biomedical and digital applications — expect future proposals at the intersection of ocean-climate-food systems.

How they like to work

ULPGC operates predominantly as a consortium participant (29 of 36 projects), contributing specialist expertise to large, multi-partner networks — their 830 unique partners across 63 countries demonstrate an exceptionally broad collaborative reach. They coordinate selectively (4 projects), typically when the topic directly leverages their Canary Islands context or unique capabilities (island climate impacts, biomaterials, island archaeology). This makes them a reliable, low-friction partner who brings domain depth without competing for leadership.

With 830 unique consortium partners across 63 countries, ULPGC has one of the widest collaborative networks for a university of its size, reflecting participation in large marine and climate consortia with strong Atlantic and pan-European reach.

What sets them apart

ULPGC's location in the Canary Islands — a European outermost region in the Atlantic — gives them unmatched access to subtropical and Atlantic marine environments, making them a natural testbed for ocean, climate, and island-system research. Their combination of aquaculture biology, ocean modelling, and island climate expertise is rare in a single institution. For consortium builders, they offer a geographic and scientific bridge between European, African, and Atlantic research communities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• IsoCAN
  ERC Starting Grant worth EUR 1.1M — their largest project and only ERC award, signalling internationally recognised research excellence in island bioarchaeology.
• SOCLIMPACT
  Coordinated project (EUR 742K) directly exploiting their island location to model climate impacts and decarbonisation pathways for EU islands.
• AquaIMPACT
  EUR 626K project combining fish genomics with AI and nutrition innovation — represents the convergence of their aquaculture and digital expertise.