The director of the European Commission’s representation in Barcelona visits BETA TC
One of the objectives of the visit was to get to know the #ScienceForUkraine initiative.
The director of the Representation of the European Commission in Barcelona, Manuel Szapiro, visited the BETA Technological Centre last tuesday, with the double objective of getting to know first-hand the Science for Ukraine initiative, and at the same time, the new facilities and projects being carried out at the BETA Technological Centre in the field of sustainable development.
The commission was received by the Rector of UVic-UCC, Josep Eladi Baños, and the Vice-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer, Jordi Collet, as well as representatives of the CT BETA, such as the Director, Sergio Ponsá; the Deputy Director, Laia Llenas; the Head of Communication and Institutional Relations, Albert Palou, and the specialist technician, Oriol Lázaro.
The first part of the visit consisted of an informal meeting with the 8 Ukrainian people who have recently joined UVic-UCC in the framework of #ScienceforUkraine. This initiative was born during the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the aim of giving opportunities to researchers from this country so that they could continue their careers during the conflict.
In a few days #ScienceForUkraine has become a global initiative that has managed to attract more than 2,000 opportunities for Ukrainian scientists, and has also helped to put many Bachelor’s and Master’s students in contact with universities around the world that are offering specific internships for them. In Spain alone, where CT BETA acts as coordinator, it is estimated that there are already around a hundred beneficiaries who have joined the programme at various universities and research centres.
The communication team of the Representation of the European Commission in Barcelona showed great interest in finding synergies to facilitate the dissemination of the initiative, both to raise awareness among more universities and research groups to offer stays for scientists from Ukraine and to find new ways of contacting them.
The visit ended with a tour of the Can Baumann facilities, in which Manuel Szapiro and his team were able to talk to the area heads of the different areas of work of the BETA TC and some of its main projects.
