The Institut Catala de Nanociencia I Nanotecnologia (ICN2) is a flagship research institute within the CERCA network of centres created and supported by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia to raise Catalan science to the premier international level. The patrons of ICN2 are the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Its core activities are Frontier Basic and Applied Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Technology Transfer, and Public Outreach. Currently, ICN2 numbers some 200 staff from over 30 countries, of which about 170 are researchers. In addition to the theoretical and experimental groups involved in the project, ICN2´s activities in graphene include thermal management, photovoltaic, biosensors and energy applications, gathering about 40 researchers (permanent staff, postdoc and Ph.D. students). ICN2 achievements were recognised in 2014 with the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation, the most prestigious award targeting research centres in Spain.

The Donostia International Physics Center Foundation (DIPC) was created in 1999, the fruit of institutional collaboration between the Departments of Education and Industry of the Basque government, the University of the Basque Country, the Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa, the San Sebastián City Hall, the Kutxa of Guipúzcoa and San Sebastián. Iberdrola S.A. also participated in the project from 2000-2003. In 2004, Naturcorp Multiservicios S.A, joined, followed by Telefónica S.A in 2005.

• The DIPC was created as an intellectual centre whose main aim is to promote and catalyse the development of basic research and basic research oriented towards material science to reach the highest level. Since its creation, the DIPC has been an open institution, linked to the University of the Basque Country, serving as a platform for the internationalising of basic science in the Basque Country in the field of materials.
• During its short life, the DIPC Foundation has become an international point of reference in basic research in the field of the Physics of Materials. This relevance shows in the quality of the researchers who have done research stays at the Foundation, the international level of the conferences held there, and, mainly, by the importance of the scientific contributions made as a consequence of the activities carried out at the DIPC.

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) is the largest public research institution in Spain and one of the most renowned institutions in the European Research Area (ERA). It is affiliated to the Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Secretary General for Research.