The Faculty of Economics and Business opens new sources of project financing

The Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona (UB) has made the decision to open new sources of financing to continue promoting new projects. This joint initiative includes the Faculty and the UB Social Council, and seeks to involve former students in financing research projects with a social impact, and improving teaching or internationalisation where projects do not receive public funding; projects which otherwise would not come to fruition. In the field of Economics and Business, the UB alumni collective totals over 50,000 students, many of whom hold positions of responsibility in the business world.

The new university sponsorship initiative (the Alumni Wall) was presented earlier today by the Dean Elisenda Paluzie alongside three faculty alumni: Salvador Alemany (President of Abertis and the UB Social Council); Joan Hortalà (President of the Barcelona stock exchange) and Roser Fernández, general secretary of the Department of Public Health of the Government of Catalonia 2010-2015. Paluzie believes the project is a response to budgetary restrictions imposed on public bodies, which during the toughest years of the crisis saw cuts of 20% in university investment and 36% in research funding in Catalonia.

The prestigious universities of Stanford and Harvard are the North American institutions which receive the most donations from former students, individuals and companies, a commonplace practice in the United States. This is also seen in the United Kingdom. However domestically, the policy of raising funds through alumni donations is a source universities have barely tapped into at all.

The Alumni Wall

In accordance with the North-American model, donations for funding Faculty projects will receive symbolic recognition: the Alumni Wall, where the names of those doing their little bit to support the projects will be displayed. The Faculty of Economics and Business hall (accessed via the street carrer John M. Keynes) will be home to a large wall featuring small plaques with the donors’ names. Private donations are, of course, a supplement and never replace public funds intended for university research and other projects. Nor shall these entail influence of any kind over methodology or the outcome of a research project.

First time with Verkami

The first initiative linked to the Alumni Wall is a research project on the social determinants of obesity in Spain. Athina Raftopoulou, a PhD ni Economics student, is behind the project. The aim is to analyse the individual obesity risk determinants, not only personal characteristics, but also the socio-economic context. The results may be of great importance in terms of improving preventive policies and in reducing the impact of obesity and its related illnesses. To obtain the €5,000 required to move the project forward, the Faculty is using the micro-funding platform Verkami.

For more information: (http://vkm.is/ubtesi)

 

 

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