The Spanish Minister of Education visits the Barcelona Science Park, which has already finished its enlargement to 60,000 square meters
He has shown interest in the training programs to shorten distance between university students and research, like the Summer School of Medicines and 'Spend the summer at the Park!'.
BY BIOCAT
The Minister of Education, Ángel Gabilondo, has visited this week the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) to visit the facilities of the technological platforms, research groups and companies at this space linked to the University of Barcelona.
The Minister has become interested especially in the annual program of internships Spend the summer at the Park!. This year it celebrates its tenth birthday with over 250 students which have taken part in it. This program is carried out during the months of July and September, and is addressed to second cycle university students of all nationalities (75% are Spanish) which want to collaborate in the projects that are being carried out at the PCB.
Gabilondo has also exchanged points of view with other responsibles of training program for university students, like the Summer School of Medicines, a summer school co-organised by the PCB, Biocat and Oncopôle (France) to bring doctorate and post doctorate students closer to the different aspects of drugs development processes.
The Barcelona Science Park enlargement is already a fact
The PCB was the first scientific park in Spain. It was established in 1997 at the University of Barcelona to promote its role of public service and endow itself with an instrument that facilitated the return to society of the scientific and technological capacities of students. This year, it has finished its project of enlargement, which entails an area increase of the 25,000 initial square meters to its today’s nearly 60,000 square meters.
The PCB is part of Barcelona Knowledge Campus (BKC), project selected in 2009 as Campus of International Excellence. The Campus of International Excellence is a program that is set in the Strategy University 2015 for the modernization of the Spanish university. It promotes strategic aggregations among universities and other institutions placed in campuses with the objective of creating ecosystems of knowledge that favour employment, social cohesion and territorial economic development. The Government has invested over 590 million Euros in the program since it started off in 2008.