Barcelona, Spain
October 10, 2007
On 19 October, the
UAB Rectorate Building held the
inauguration of UAB's science and technology park, PRAUB. The
ceremony was attended by José Montilla, President of the Catalan
Government, and the main representatives of the participating
organisations. The second part of the ceremony was held in the
area located next to the UAB Columns, where the Agricultural
Genomics Research Centre (CRAG) will be built.
Speeches were held at the conference hall of the Rectorate
Building by Jordi Marquet, Director of PRUAB; Carlos Martínez,
President of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC);
Miguel Angel Quintanilla, Secretary of Universities for the
Ministry of Education and Science; and Lluís Ferrer, Rector of
the UAB and President of the PRUAB Foundation. The closing
speech was given by José Montilla, President of the Generalitat.
Also present at the inauguration were Josep Huguet, Minister of
Innovation, Universities and Enterprise of the Generalitat;
Joaquim Llena, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Action of
the Generalitat; and Antoni Morral, Mayor of Cerdanyola del
Vallès.
Representatives, politicians and others linked to UAB's science
and technology park took part in planting a tree to symbolise
the origin and future of both CRAG and PRUAB.
PRUAB was created specially as a basic tool for three
organisations, leaders in research: the UAB, the CSIC and the
Institute for Agro-Food Research and Technology (IRTA). The main
objective of the science and technology park is to boost the
transfer of research to businesses and strengthen the science
and technology services found within the Park. The name itself
is a reflection of the close ties between the Park and the UAB
and its university campus.
In addition to UAB departments and research groups, the Park
includes research institutes and centres, business incubators
and R&D departments, and science and technology services located
on the university campus and at the Torre Marimon Farms of
Caldes de Montbui. Some of the most emblematic centres are the
Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology (GdC-CSIC-UAB), the
Agricultural Genomics Research Centre-CRAG (IRTA-CSIC-UAB) and
the Eureka building, a joint collaboration of the UAB and the
Zona Franca Consortium. All three centres are now in the process
of being built.
The management and development of the Park will be in the hands
of the UAB Research Park Foundation. The President of the
Foundation is UAB Rector Lluís Ferrer,with Carlos Martínez and
Josep Tarragó as joint Vice Presidents. The Foundation will be
directed by Jordi Marquet, UAB Vice Rector for Strategic
Projects.
The official launch of the Park and the PRUAB Foundation
provides a visible structure to an already existent reality
formed by the university and the research centres it
collaborates with. In fact, PRUAB came into being in the 1980s,
when the first research centres belonging to the UAB and other
collaborating organisations began to be built on the Bellaterra
campus.
Since then, the UAB has become the backbone that connects and
provides a synergy for institutions and businesses located on
the UAB campus and the Torre Marimon Farms in Caldes de Montbui,
or others found throughout the province of Barcelona, all of
which make up the Esfera UAB.
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