The UB joins Barcelona’s network of climate shelters
Biology CRAI Library.
News
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Institutional
(08/05/2024)
The Rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, announced today, during the ordinary meeting of the Governing Council, that the UB has joined the network of climate refuge spaces in Barcelona. With this initiative of the Barcelona City Council, places in the city with different uses and functions (such as libraries, civic and sports centres, parks or houses) are opened to provide thermal comfort to the most vulnerable population (babies, the elderly, the chronically ill, people with few resources, etc.). The Learning and Research Resource Centres (CRAI) of the faculties of Physics and Chemistry, Biology, Pharmacy (Diagonal Campus) and Earth Sciences, as well as the CRAI Library of Economics and Business, will be part of the project. These spaces meet the requirements of good accessibility and safety, as well as having rest areas and free access to water.
Biology CRAI Library.
News
|
Institutional
08/05/2024
The Rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, announced today, during the ordinary meeting of the Governing Council, that the UB has joined the network of climate refuge spaces in Barcelona. With this initiative of the Barcelona City Council, places in the city with different uses and functions (such as libraries, civic and sports centres, parks or houses) are opened to provide thermal comfort to the most vulnerable population (babies, the elderly, the chronically ill, people with few resources, etc.). The Learning and Research Resource Centres (CRAI) of the faculties of Physics and Chemistry, Biology, Pharmacy (Diagonal Campus) and Earth Sciences, as well as the CRAI Library of Economics and Business, will be part of the project. These spaces meet the requirements of good accessibility and safety, as well as having rest areas and free access to water.
During today’s session, the Governing Council also presented the proposal of the UB’s Action Plan for the reform of the evaluation of research activity. In July 2022, the CoARA Agreement was published, the result of the efforts of the European University Association (EUA) and Science Europe, with the support of the European Commission. The main commitments of CoARA are to recognise the diversity of contributions and careers in research and, in terms of research evaluation, to base it on qualitative assessment, to abandon the inappropriate use of metrics based on journals and publications, and to avoid the use of rankings of research organizations. The UB participated in this process from the beginning, not only by signing the CoARA, but also by hosting events related to the promotion and dissemination of this agreement.
As stated today at the Governing Council, the UB now wants to go a step further in committing to a change in research assessment criteria and to work constructively within the framework of a new assessment culture. The aim is to promote the responsible use of bibliometric indicators in combination with qualitative assessment and to value the diversity of scientific contributions, so that research results have a greater scientific and social impact. To this end, a UB-CoARA working group has been set up, comprising the vice-rectors responsible for research, doctoral studies and teaching and research staff, to progressively promote new assessment criteria.
Approval of teaching positions
Regarding the teaching staff, the Governing Council has approved 6 positions for tenured lecturers, 62 positions for associate lecturers, 8 positions for tenured and associate lecturers linked to the Hospital Clínic and the Catalan Institute of Health, and 11 positions for associate lecturers for research staff in the Ramón y Cajal Programme. The Rector’s report also mentioned the call for applications for adjunct lecturers, medical associates and tenured lecturers approved last April by the Teaching Staff Committee. This call, the largest in logistical terms that has been carried out at the UB and probably in other Spanish universities, consists of 1,416 positions for the stabilisation of adjunct lecturers, 127 positions for medical lecturers and 109 positions for tenured lecturers.
In the field of research, the creation of the Institutions, Politics and Economics Research Centre (IPERC) was given the go-ahead to study the role of political institutions and how they relate to processes of change and economic development.
As stated today at the Governing Council, the UB now wants to go a step further in committing to a change in research assessment criteria and to work constructively within the framework of a new assessment culture. The aim is to promote the responsible use of bibliometric indicators in combination with qualitative assessment and to value the diversity of scientific contributions, so that research results have a greater scientific and social impact. To this end, a UB-CoARA working group has been set up, comprising the vice-rectors responsible for research, doctoral studies and teaching and research staff, to progressively promote new assessment criteria.
Approval of teaching positions
Regarding the teaching staff, the Governing Council has approved 6 positions for tenured lecturers, 62 positions for associate lecturers, 8 positions for tenured and associate lecturers linked to the Hospital Clínic and the Catalan Institute of Health, and 11 positions for associate lecturers for research staff in the Ramón y Cajal Programme. The Rector’s report also mentioned the call for applications for adjunct lecturers, medical associates and tenured lecturers approved last April by the Teaching Staff Committee. This call, the largest in logistical terms that has been carried out at the UB and probably in other Spanish universities, consists of 1,416 positions for the stabilisation of adjunct lecturers, 127 positions for medical lecturers and 109 positions for tenured lecturers.
In the field of research, the creation of the Institutions, Politics and Economics Research Centre (IPERC) was given the go-ahead to study the role of political institutions and how they relate to processes of change and economic development.