The Minister of Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal, has visited the 4YFN conference where the University of Barcelona, ??the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ??the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the Open University of Catalonia, the Pompeu Fabra University and the University of Girona are present through startups and spinoffs that have emerged from their respective students and research teams.
After greeting the corresponding rectors who were at the event, Nadal was interested in each university initiative that was shown and spoke with those responsible. “In this showcase that Mobile represents, all these companies that emerge from the university environment, represent the future commitment of the business fabric that has to link basic research with applied research,” commented the counselor.
All the rectors have shown their satisfaction with the work done by their corresponding teams, boasting of the talent displayed by their students and professors dedicated to research. “For a technological university, such as the UPC, it is a pleasure that the technology developed by our students and researchers leads to the creation of companies and sooner or later reaches the market,” explains Daniel Crespo, rector of the UPC.
“It is an extraordinary opportunity to put the companies that we have created at the UAB in contact with real society, to increase the possibility of society advancing and improving,” explains Javier Lafuente, rector of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
From the University of Barcelona, ??its rector goes one step further and encourages the business sector to be interested in the technological feats that university students do and understand these spinoffs and startups as a source of investment and talent.
“Between students and research staff we have an extraordinarily powerful team, which is why it is interesting that private and public investors support these initiatives because thanks to them the world changes in the right direction,” said Joan Guàrdia, rector of the University of Barcelona.