Plenary Assembly of the HUBc, the health campus of the UB

The event, attended by representatives of the different organizations which compose the HUBc, was chaired by the vice-rector for Science Policy of the UB, Dr Enric I. Canela.
The event, attended by representatives of the different organizations which compose the HUBc, was chaired by the vice-rector for Science Policy of the UB, Dr Enric I. Canela.
Institutional
(20/03/2013)
On 19th March, it took place the Plenary Assembly of the HUBc, the campus of international excellence of the University of Barcelona focused on health sciences. The event, attended by representatives of the different institutions, research centres, hospitals and city councils which compose it, was chaired by the vice-rector for Science Policy of the UB, Dr Enric I. Canela. The rectorʼs delegate for the HUBc, Dr Josep Samitier; the vice-rector for Research, Dr Jordi Alberch, and the technical director of the HUBc, Ernest Trias, also took part in the assembly.
The event, attended by representatives of the different organizations which compose the HUBc, was chaired by the vice-rector for Science Policy of the UB, Dr Enric I. Canela.
The event, attended by representatives of the different organizations which compose the HUBc, was chaired by the vice-rector for Science Policy of the UB, Dr Enric I. Canela.
Institutional
20/03/2013
On 19th March, it took place the Plenary Assembly of the HUBc, the campus of international excellence of the University of Barcelona focused on health sciences. The event, attended by representatives of the different institutions, research centres, hospitals and city councils which compose it, was chaired by the vice-rector for Science Policy of the UB, Dr Enric I. Canela. The rectorʼs delegate for the HUBc, Dr Josep Samitier; the vice-rector for Research, Dr Jordi Alberch, and the technical director of the HUBc, Ernest Trias, also took part in the assembly.
In the course of the session the executive summary of the HUBc, the 2012 Report and the 2013 Working Plan were presented. The progress report handed to the Ministry for Education, Culture and Sport has been distinguished and described as an “ambitious” project by the panel, which highlights the participation of health institutions and centres which focus their activities on different fields: education, care, research, private sector, and social impact. The participation of professors, especially foreigners, has been increased by 6 %, and this fact has been also appreciated by the panel. Research staff has been also increased by 96 % and, more specifically, the number of ICREA researchers has been increased by 26 %.

 

Projects developed

Among the projects developed by the HUBc, it is important to stress the signature of an agreement with the Portuguese institution Cooperative of Polytechnic Higher Education and the University (CESPU), within one of the internationalization projects of the HUBc. The objective is to create a HUBc office in in Portugal in order to carry out common projects in teaching and research fields.

Moreover, the works to build a new building in the Bellvitge Health Sciences campus began in January. The campus will have a total of 6,000 square metres built. Works are funded by a three million euros grant conferred on HUBc in 2010. HUBc has also organised an idea contest to build a hall of residence in Bellvitge campus for students, teaching staff and relatives of the patients who are at the hospital.

Furthermore, a clinical laboratory has been restored at the Faculty of Medicine of the UB, within the project Attraction of talent for the advancement of cellular therapy, carried out together with Josep Carreras Foundation. The project, valued at 240,000 euros, is funded by Fortalecimiento 2011 (Strengthening 2011) and includes the inclusion of an ICREA researcher.

In 2012, the new HUBc website was set up. Contents have a new design to inform students, teaching staff, researchers, technicians and companies about questions related to education, research, knowledge transfer and services offered by the campus. Finally, HUBc has been granted an extension to develop the projects included in Innocampus programme of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness until December 2013.


The future of the campus

Some of the future projects presented in the assembly are the creation of a network of international excellence campuses focused on health aspects which will determine a joint strategy on public health and healthy ageing. The internationalization of the HUBc will be promoted by participating in initiatives of the new programme Horizon 2020, to be exact in the European call to create new knowledge and innovation communities (KIC), which will include health matters.

 

Organizations affiliated with HUBc

Currently, the HUBc is composed by 27 organizations (institutions, research centres, companies and city councils). The Terrassa Health Consortium is the last organization included; its inclusion was approved during the assembly.

The entities affiliated with the HUBc, apart from the UB, which is the coordinator, are: Barcelonaʼs Zona Franca Consortium, Biocat, BiopolʼH, August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelonal (IIBB-CSIC), the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), the Bellvitge University Hospital, the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, the Hospital Duran i Reynals, the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), the Insitut de Diagnosi per la Imatge (IDI), the University Hospital Mútua de Terrassa, the Hospital of Sant Joan de Déu and its mental health services, the association CataloniaBio, the Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies (Fenin), Ferrer International, the Associació Empresarial de lʼHospitalet i el Baix Llobregat (AEBALL), the Fòrum Empresarial del Llobregat and the technological centre Leitat. It also has the support of the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the city councils of Barcelona, l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Sant Boi de Llobregat.