Who we are?

Joint Research Centre of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

The Research Centre for the Management of Agricultural and Environmental Risks (CEIGRAM) is a Joint Research Centre of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), which was founded in 2007. It was established thanks to the collaboration agreement signed between the Spanish National Agency for Agriculture Insurance (ENESA, an Independent Body of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), AGROMUTUA-MAVDA (a mutual insurance company specialised in Agricultural Insurance, with almost 30 years of experience in the sector) and the UPM. Since 2017 AGROSEGURO (The Spanish Association of Combined Agricultural Insurance Companies) has taken the place of AGROMUTUA in CEIGRAM.

CEIGRAM is a reference and knowledge generation centre for conducting research and developing methodologies that respond to the growing concern about the production, market, and environmental risk management strategies that the agricultural sector is facing.

It is also committed to dissemination, exchange, and training in its research areas. CEIGRAM is part of the UPM School of Agricultural, Food, and Biosystems Engineering due to its missions, study areas, and staff.

ENESA‘s activities focus onthe promotion and coordination of agricultural insurance policy endorsed by the Spanish Government. Among its functions are preparing the Annual Agricultural Insurance Plan, granting subsidies to farmers and livestock owners to cover a part of the cost of insurance, as well as collaborating with Autonomous Community Governments.

AGROSEGURO is in charge of the management of agricultural insurance for and on behalf of insurance companies that are part of the co-insurance pool.

UPM is one of the best technological universities in the world and the toptechnological university in Spanish. It has a strong commitment to R&D+i as it has 204 research groups and 19 R&D Centres and Institutes that contribute to the development of the international scientific community, one of which is CEIGRAM.

Since CEIGRAM’s inception in 2007, ENESA has participated in the decision-making process, forming an integral part of both its Board of Directors and its Scientific Council. It has also provided institutional and financial support to the UPM. Thanks to ENESA’s support, CEIGRAM has been expanding and diversifying its major research areas, most of which are aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Both entities stand out for their research work in 15 of the 17 SDGs. The collaboration between both organisations has also made it possible to promote training activity in agricultural and environmental risk management, supporting technicians and university graduates from different countries in agricultural and environmental risk management.

Over the years, CEIGRAM  has shown a strong commitment to global food security through research on water security and the planning of food stocks in developing countries by incorporating new and advanced technologies. All this has been made possible with the support of ENESA, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, AGROSEGURO, and other centres and groups from UPM and the private sector.

ENESA’s and CEIGRAM-UPM’s commitment was recognised through the SDGs Public-Private Partnership Award in collaboration with the UPM at UPM’s 2018 Own Programme awards ceremony.

CEIGRAM is also part of the Campus of International Excellence Moncloa (CEIM), a joint initiative of the Complutense University and the Technical University of Madrid, in collaboration with other organisations such as CIEMAT (Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology), CSIC (The Spanish National Research Council), AEMET (State Meteorological Agency), and INIA-CSIC (the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology) that aim to become an international reference in research, training, and innovation.

Human resources

  • 44 senior researchers
  • 14 researchers in training
  • 5 associate researchers

Centres:

  • Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas
  • Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros en Topografía, Geodesia y Cartografía
  • Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Informáticos

Departments:

  • Agricultural Economics
  • Agricultural Production
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Agroforestry Engineering
  • Chemistry and Food Technology

Management, Secretariat, Computer Support and Communication

CEIGRAM is made up of researchers from two UPM Schools from different departments and research areas; the Higher Technical School of Agricultural, Food and Biosystems Engineering, the School of Engineering in Topography, Geodesy and Cartography and the School of Computer Engineering. These, in turn, belong to various Research Groups. The list of the groups that currently participate totally or partially in CEIGRAM can be consulted here. CEIGRAM also has associate researchers from other universities and research centres. CEIGRAM also hosts a varying number of researchers in training, who are undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students and visiting researchers.

You can consult the list of all researchers who belong to the UPM or to other research organisations in the staff section, as well as themanagement and communication staff who address these needs in CEIGRAM.