Óscar López Lorente takes up the position of Director of ARAID

A graduate in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Zaragoza, he has developed extensive expertise in strategic planning, the acquisition and management of competitive national and international funding, institutional cooperation, internationalisation, financial management and multidisciplinary team leadership. He has also played an active role in building partnerships between public administrations, universities, research centres, technology centres and companies to strengthen scientific and innovation capabilities. 

His professional career began at the Research Results Transfer Office (OTRI) of the University of Zaragoza, where he spent almost a decade working on knowledge transfer, innovation and university-business collaboration. He later became Director of the University's European Projects Office, a position he held between 2007 and 2013, leading the institution's participation strategy in European research and innovation programmes. During that period, he also served as National Contact Point for the Ministry of Science and Innovation in the Science in Society area of the Seventh Framework Programme and as Spain’s representative to the European Commission. 

In 2013, he was appointed Executive Director of Campus Iberus, the International Campus of Excellence of the Ebro Valley, which brings together the universities of Zaragoza, Public University of Navarre, Lleida and La Rioja. During this stage, he promoted joint initiatives in research, innovation, internationalisation and education, strengthening collaboration among the participating institutions. 

From 2019 until joining ARAID, he served as Executive Director of the Aragón Health Research Institute Foundation (IIS Aragón), where he was responsible for strategic planning, the overall management of the organisation and institutional coordination among the entities that make up the institute.