IBE is the only research center in Catalonia and the rest of Spain that is entirely dedicated to evolutionary biology and natural resources.

[1] The research carried out by IBE focuses on the study of the processes and mechanisms for the generation and maintenance of biodiversity and its conservation.

To meet this global challenge requires the methods and concepts of evolutionary biology; and in particular, the understanding of the bases of the differences between organisms, both between species and within them, and how these differences produce new functions and interactions, which will determine the basic mechanisms of life and place biodiversity in a robust evolutionary framework.

To this end, IBE research uses the new tools available, experimental and computational, to understand the basic functioning of life, discover the mechanisms for generating biological innovations and preserve biodiversity and promote its management in a sustainable way.

These will be built on the area of 7,500 square meters that is currently a car park and which was, until the middle of the 20th century, the central fish market of Barcelona (Mercat del Peix).