The Rector of the UB, Dr Màrius Rubiralta, has accepted the offer of the new Minister of Science and Innovation, Cristina Garmendia, to become Secretary of State for Universities. Dr Rubiralta has informed the President of the Social Council of the UB and his management team of his decision. In the next few hours, the UB will decide what changes this appointment implies in relation to the governance of the University. An extraordinary governing council meeting is expected to be held in the next few days.

The new Ministry of Science and Innovation includes two Secretary of State’s Offices: Universities, to be headed by Dr Rubiralta, and Research, to be headed by the current President of the CSIC (the Spanish National Research Council), Carlos Martínez Alonso. The ministry will be responsible for universities, scientific research, technological development and innovation in all sectors, and will also coordinate the state’s public research institutions. The Secretary of State’s Office for Universities will be divided into two directorate-generals: Universities, and Research and Knowledge Transfer Programs.
Màrius Rubiralta i Alcañiz (born in Manresa, 1952) has been Rector of the University of Barcelona since May 2005. Doctor in Chemical Sciences and Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the UB, his research has focused on organic synthesis related to the preparation of drugs. He is the author of over a hundred international publications and he has directed fifteen PHD theses. During his professional career, Dr Rubiralta has been Director of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Chemistry, Vice-President of the Health Sciences Division, Vice-Rector of Research at the University of Barcelona, and Director-General of the Barcelona Science Park. He is also a member of the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Catalonia, and in 2003 he was awarded the Narcís Monturiol medal. He is currently President of the Strategy Commission in the Metropolitan Strategy Plan for Barcelona, and First Vice-President of the Conference of Rectors of the Spanish Universities (CRUE).
In the institutional posts he has held, Dr Rubiralta has been actively involved in the promotion of university research and the development of new policies for technology transfer. He has contributed to a variety of publications and books and has presented papers at many conferences. While at the Barcelona Science Park, he introduced a concept of the interaction between the knowledge generation sector and the company environment that was entirely new in this country.