The rector focuses his report on the four main axis of the UB Strategic Plan 2030
In the ordinary session of the Senate of the University of Barcelona, gathered on Thursday, July 4, the rector, Joan Elias, structured his report around four main axis -the ones building the UB Strategic Plan 2030, together with what he called elements facilitadors, regarding the resources and environment that should enable the development of the strategies noted in the Plan. Before the session started, the collective Doctorandes en Lluita read a manifesto asking the rector to give answers to all the demands from the pre-doctoral staff and to apply these during the upcoming months, like other universities have already done.
In the ordinary session of the Senate of the University of Barcelona, gathered on Thursday, July 4, the rector, Joan Elias, structured his report around four main axis -the ones building the UB Strategic Plan 2030, together with what he called elements facilitadors, regarding the resources and environment that should enable the development of the strategies noted in the Plan. Before the session started, the collective Doctorandes en Lluita read a manifesto asking the rector to give answers to all the demands from the pre-doctoral staff and to apply these during the upcoming months, like other universities have already done.
The rector noted we need to think about the training offering and review the different rules related to teaching. He stressed the review of the regulation of dual degree studies and that a definite draft of the regulation for the assessment and course guides is being finished. He mentioned the task on teaching innovation and the RIMDA project and talked about launching pilot trials of the migration from Virtual Campus to the cloud. He also mentioned the work on the regulation of the creation and functioning of the UB rooms and chairs. Regarding the grant policy, he said the coverage for the UB-specific program BKUB has been maintained and broadened, and the new grant program Master+ UB has been created to catch talent and promote scientific vocations.
Talent incorporation and leadership
“The UB is the top university in Spain, and according to some rankings, the top university in the Ibero-American educational area”, noted Elias, who reminded that the rankings show a slight improvement of results during this year. Regarding research, the UB wants to prioritize all programs that involve finding talent. In this sense, the research program contract has increased up to 803,000 euros. Regarding the generational succession, the COFUND program has been designed with the EU to bring young talent. The launch of the new research PDA has been completed, representing a better recognition of the researchers. Also, he stressed we need a competitive equipment for research and explained the obsolete equipment renewal call.
New international alliances
The rector went over the UB internationalization task, with the signature of 52 international agreements over the last semester, the participation in international fairs, bilateral contacts with other universities and activity in international networks. Also, he provided the main figures of the international research activity. He also dedicated a chapter to the Chapter of the Americas. He referred to the CHARM-EU alliance, led by the UB, in alliance with the Trinity College Dublin, the Utrecht University, University of Montpellier and the Loránd Eötvös University of Budapest, and has been one of the seventeen selected projects by the European Commission for the creation of the first European universities. “The University of Barcelona leading one of the chosen projects in this first call places our institution at the front of innovation regarding universities in Europe”, he noted. The rector finished his speech with the meetings and publications carried out within the framework of the LERU network, and remembered the University of Barcelona will hold the LERU Rectorsʼ Assembly in November.
Committed to society
The rector highlighted some of the actions carried out to guarantee equality and respect for rights by the people from the UB community, such as the creation and approval of the new Action protocol against sexual harassment, due to sexual orientation, sexual identity and other chauvinist behaviour, and mentioned some of the projects to be worked on during the next academic year, such as the creation of Ateneu UB, whose aim is for the retired lecturers who wish so to maintain their contact with the UB.
He highlighted the creation of the Commission of Sustainable Development and stressed that the UB Solidarity Foundation promotes activities related to the support program for refugees and people from conflict areas. Joan Elias talked about the actions on entrepreneurship, such as the design of a specific program of intensification of knowledge transfer. The rector also talked about the Integral Plan for the management, preservation and enrichment of cultural heritage of the UB and made reference to the approval, in late March, of the Special integral plan for the regulation of the Arts Campus in Can Ricart.
Elias began the chapter of the facilitating elements with the task for the University digital transformation. Regarding funding and infrastructures, he mentioned several initiatives to get new means and explained the reform of the model of funding for center administrations. Regarding the staff, he remembered one of the main objectives is the strategy design to develop the teaching personnel. He provided the figures of the published places for the different calls for 2019, which is three times the figure of 2017, and among other initiatives, he said the UB-specific program of R&D to promote scientific studies has been designed.
During the speaking turn, the rector was asked to include the feminist perspective in all UB actions, including its academic offering, and to end with the patriarchal culture. Also, there have been demands on the precarious hiring conditions in PAS and other collectives, and he was asked to invest more in research means. The polemics regarding the prices of the Aleu Residence and the organizational changes in some units have been the focus of some interventions.
The rector specifically talked about funding, a topic which “brings more problems to this University and the system itself”. He went over the joint actions by the rectors on this problem in ACUP, now presided by the UB, and gave some figures, such as the reduction to 60 million euros in the University Investment Program. He also highlighted that the UB is the “most punished” university by the cuts on funding, and that the transfers from the Generalitat have been reduced to 52 million euros. Despite the difficulties, the rector defended that the universities showed they know how to work and explained a series of initiatives to take place, such as presenting the proposal of a finance clash plan to give back the 900 million euros assigned to public universities next year, a figure previous to the cuts, and to reach 1,300 million by the year 2022.