Central Building on the campus of the University of Navarra. PHOTO: Manuel Castells

The University of Navarra has obtained the qualification of Campus of International Excellence (CEI), as reported today by the Ministry of Education. The academic center will obtain 4 million euros for its "Horizon Project 2015. Where talent and progress come together", which will be granted to the Government of Navarra in the form of a loan and the latter will convert it into aid to finance the implementation of the initiative.

The Rector, Ángel J. Gómez-Montoro, expressed his satisfaction for this recognition, "which promotes and endorses the teaching and research project that the University wants to develop in the coming years, at the service of society, and first and foremost, Navarra. I would also like to congratulate the Universities that have obtained some recognition in this call, especially the UPNA, for the additional funding to Campus Iberus".

In this call, two other university aggregations have received the CEI qualification: Campus Habitat 5U project, formed by five Valencian universities; and the Campus Vida project, coordinated by the University of Santiago de Compostela. In addition, six other proposals have obtained the qualification of Campus of International Excellence of European regional scope (CEIR). Between all of them, and adding up the projects that have applied for additional funding, the Ministry will distribute 75 million euros.

A total of 32 projects competed for this call, 13 of them new, which were evaluated by an international technical committee made up of experts. According to the Ministry, this edition will practically complete the Spanish map of Campuses of International Excellence which, from now on, will set its priority on improving the quality of each of the projects with the aim of making them capable of competing internationally at each of their levels.

Research in Nutrition, Bioengineering and Humanities and Social Sciences

The "Horizon Project 2015. Where talent and progress come together" brings together a set of initiatives aimed at strengthening research, improving teaching and promoting social involvement. These include the creation of four research centers, which will generate around 400 jobs, and the Museum designed by Rafael Moneo.

"The University of Navarra's project is committed to attracting research talent, with the start-up of new centers for research in Nutrition, Bioengineering, Humanities and Social Sciences and Tropical Diseases," explained Fernando de la Puente, the University's R&D director and coordinator of the project.

The four centers, which are already up and running with varying degrees of development, respond to areas of knowledge that have been selected based on the University's research capacity and economic and social needs. In this sense, special relevance will be given to the transfer of the research results derived from these centers and their application to the industry related to each sector will be favored.

To this end, a business incubator will be set up to promote all the business initiatives that may arise from the research centers within the framework of Horizon 2015. In this way, it will contribute to generate more employment and economic dynamism, mainly in the Autonomous Community of Navarre.

The project also includes the creation of the Museo Universidad de Navarra, which will begin construction in November and is expected to open in autumn 2013.

The quality of teaching is another of the project's objectives, together with the promotion of employment, the aim of which is to ensure that 95% of graduates find work in their first year. It also aims to promote bilingual teaching, which it hopes to implement by 2015 in 21 of its 35 bachelor's degrees and 17 of its 33 master's degrees.

Finally, the University is also working on a sustainable campus model, with zero CO2 emissions and significant energy savings. It also includes the extension of the bicycle lane circuit, the increase in bicycle parking spaces, the pedestrianization of some areas of the campus and the creation of new parking areas on the periphery, to reduce road traffic and noise.

The Horizon 2015 Project was drawn up in 2009 when the institution applied for the first Campus of International Excellence call for proposals. On that occasion, the institution received a grant of 3 million euros through an agreement with the Autonomous Community of Navarra.

THE FOUR RESEARCH CENTERS:

Photo: Manuel Castells

The Bioengineering Center, where 240 researchers will work, has the mission of researching to generate technological innovations applicable to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Specifically, it will focus on tissue engineering, biosensors, biorobotics, imaging and bioinformatics. The scientific organization chart was designed with the support and encouragement of a group of researchers and managers from the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California Berkeley (USA).

The Nutrition Research Center, which will have 110 scientists, is supported by the relevant experience accumulated by the Institute of Food Sciences of the University of Navarra (ICAUN). Its objective is to promote quality research in four priority areas: molecular nutrition, metabolic therapeutics, human nutrition and applied nutriomics.

The Institute of Tropical Health promotes scientific research to find solutions for prevention and control, diagnosis and treatment of diseases that are not yet curable. It focuses on bacterial pathologies such as Brucellosis or parasitic diseases such as Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis. The institute, which already has some thirty professionals, collaborates with research centers and universities around the world with the aim of transferring technological knowledge and training scientists from tropical regions.

The Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) will be located in a large restored area of the Humanities Library. The ICS, which is expected to hire 120 researchers, is already working in four major research areas: Poverty and Development; Family, Education and Society; Contemporary Art; and Globalization, Human Rights and Interculturality.