Which roles play the medical societies and the patient’s association in the funding of science? How can we contribute with the private sector to get funds for research? What is behind crowdfunding? All these questions have been discussed in the first sessions of the "http://www.cerdanyolaoberta.cat/jornadafcis/" FCIS Cerdanyola Meeting, hosted on Thursday in the Auditorium of the Parc Tecnològic del Vallès. The director of Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR) and secretary-general of the Spanish Confederation of Scientific Societies (COSCE), Dr. Joan X. Comella, showed the case of VHIR as an example of how to keep all the activity and the growth, despite the cuts of the Spanish Government in research grants. For this, he assures, it is essential to diversify: “Regarding the funding sources, the monoculture of public subsidies is a high-risk strategy because the possibilities of extinction are too high if we lose them. For that reason, we have to diversify by fostering public and private partnerships, the internationalization, the capital risk and the innovation”. In this case, he reported how the Institute has maintained its numbers thanks to the increase of the incomes for clinical trials, international calls and different agreements with companies. Regarding the opportunities of raising funds from the private sector, the responsible of fundraising at VHIR, Carmen Netzel, explained the collaborations of the Institute with companies or entities not related with biomedical research, such as Vodafone Foundation, Industex and Josep Palau I Francàs Foundation.According to a recent study carried out by the Spanish Association of Fundraising, in Spain there are more than 16,000 foundations (the 30% are established in Catalonia) with an overall turnover of 1,200M euros. A sector which is undergoing a restructuration, but it offers a lot of opportunities for funding research projects. The major of Cerdanyola del Vallès, Carme Carmona, has organized this first meeting, together with the rector of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Dr. Ferran Sancho, and Dr. Pere Gascón, head of the Oncology Service at Hospital Clinic, as a president of the scientific committee. "http://www.cerdanyolaoberta.cat/jornadafcis/dw/triptic-cast-v20.pdf" Read the sessions and the speakers on this link