12/05/2011

Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) participated in the first meeting to define the strategies of the aggregation Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona-Campus of International Excellence (UAB-CIE), together with over 50 representatives of the centers and institutions belonging to the aggregation. VHIR's representative was Francesc Iglesias, director of innovation.In her speech Ana Ripoll, Rector of UAB, welcomed all attendants with a reminder of the importance of this project on the road towards an economy of knowledge. She explained that this current stage is focused on consolidating the aggregation of centres and institutions to the project, and asked for the full collaboration and integration of the centres in developing "an ecosystem of knowledge leader in Southern Europe".Carles Jaime, Vice Rector for Strategic Projects and Planning, spoke to attendants of the 2009 call for proposals, in which the programme focused on the modernisation, internationalisation, aggregation and integration into the territory of Spanish universities. UAB received recognition as ?Campus of International Excellence? with an aggregation project of 78 centres and institutions (including 44 research centres, 21 firms, 11 city councils and 2 public research organisations).With regard to the actions put into motion in these past two years, the Vice Rector announced his recently request for funding for two new actions: the creation of a UAB International Summer School and the organisation of meetings with Nobel laureates, both focused on the University's internationalisation and attraction of talent.In reference to future actions, Vice Rector Carles Jaime mentioned that all offices opening in other countries under UAB's internationalisation strategy will also be open to all members of UAB-CIE. He also informed attendants on the creation of professional posts similar to that of adjunct clinical lecturers, in which professionals combine teaching with their work (students accompany doctors when visiting patients), in other academic areas such as media studies or education.According to the Vice Rector, the objective now must be to structure the aggregation process, align all common strategies and objectives, avoid a dispersion of interests, and achieve to create an aggregated community with a strong influence on its surroundings. A joint strategy will be prepared to assure the project's success and improve its communication.With this in mind, members first will create an institutional structure model which has begun to take shape in the form of cluster structures. Clusters have already been created in specific areas such as nanotechnology, biomedicine and biotechnology, education, food safety and sustainability, and aeronautics. Optimisation of resources among members is another important point, with the aim of not duplicating facilities or services and of reducing costs. Improving UAB-CIE external visibility with a common signature on research articles.The second objective is to propose a model of governance. UAB supports the creation of an agile executive committee with representatives from all aggregation members and an international advisory committee. A common communication strategy is the third objective, where members are already working on the creation of a web portal to include and share all information generated by the UAB-CIE aggregate.Finally, with regard to impact on surroundings - one of the objectives of the ministerial programme - members will work on increasing job opportunities in collaboration with UAB's employment service Treball Campus by putting students in contact with businesses and offering programmes such as Ocupa, Emprèn, doctor training programmes, etc., in innovation and assessment of research and business programmes such as PIME Innova and Social Biz, in collaborating in advanced vocational training courses in which UAB can offer added value, and in the creation of a network of "affiliated" secondary school centres, the Educa network, with the aim of facilitating access to university in more economically depressed areas.According to Carles Jaime, the bottom line is that ?this project is led by UAB, but belongs to all its members.? The event also included the participation of Ivan Martínez, UAB's Vice Rector for Research, Jordi Marquet, Director of the UAB Research Park, and Xavier Ariño, Coordinator of the Campus of International Excellence.