• WHAT WE DO

    The mission of ”la Caixa” Foundation is to contribute towards building a better, fairer society, giving opportunities to those people who need them most.

    The values of ”la Caixa” Foundation are based on three pillars:

    • Social commitment, understood as our commitment to building a better society.

    • Responsibility, in relation to our duty to guarantee that the work carried out by ”la Caixa” Foundation is in line with the criteria of excellence in management and efficiency in outcomes.

    • Trust, resulting from society’s recognition of our activities and the impact of our programmes.

    These values are shared at all levels of the organization, including those developed in our own programmes or through collaborations.

    Research and innovation are key to achieving progress in a more inclusive, knowledge-based society, and are the cornerstones of ”la Caixa” Foundation’s philanthropic activity.

    The fundamental responsibility of formulating the principles of research lies with the research community, as well as defining the criteria for proper research behaviour, maximising the quality and robustness of research and responding adequately to threats to, or violations of, research integrity. Likewise, as a philanthropic agent of European research and innovation, ”la Caixa” Foundation is committed to ensuring that projects and the funding it awards to them are carried out responsibly and in line with good practices in research and innovation.

    In this respect, research and innovation should embrace the principles of diversity and inclusivity, the anticipation of social needs and openness and transparency, seeking excellence and maximum impact. All agents involved must behave at all times in accordance with ethical principles and international best practices.

    All research and innovation activities undertaken with funding from ”la Caixa” Foundation must respect the relevant national, European and international legislation, paying particular attention to regulations that have impact on, or are particularly related to research activities in the area of investigation. Any research activity conducted in a non-EU country must comply with European regulatory standards, as a minimum requirement.

    Special care must be taken with the following aspects, related to the research:

    1. Human protection.

    2. Animal protection and wellbeing.

    3. Protection of biodiversity and the environment, and to health and safety.

    4. Protection of data, confidentiality and privacy.

    5. Protection of researchers’ professional environment and development.

    6. Gender equality and diversity.

    7. Intellectual property.

    8. Focus on civil applications.

    9. Proper use of research results and their dissemination.

    10. Commitment to society and the maximization of impact.