The Community wants to reactivate the Mare Nostrum Campus after years of lethargy with a help of half a million euros and new objectives
The dream of the strategic alliance between the two public universities of the Region, Murcia (UMU) and the Polytechnic of Cartagena (UPCT), in pursuit of excellence and internationalization, begins to awaken from the lethargy in which the crisis It has plunged in recent years. The Department of Universities wants to reinvigorate the project with new objectives and an initial financing of half a million euros (309,827 euros for the UMU and 154,914 euros for the UPCT), and new projects focused on enhancing the strengths of the two institutions.
One of them is the so-called ‘TF Meeting’, which will allow university students from public campuses to carry out their final degree projects (TFG) and master’s degrees (TFM) in companies in the Region. Students will have a tutor at the university and another at the company, who will guide the work. The students’ research will also try to respond to problems and challenges posed by the companies themselves, which will apply the student’s proposal. In practice, companies will propose their research topics, and students interested in this area will present their proposals. University students who participate in the program will receive a grant of 500 euros in the case of the TFG, and 600 in the TFM, as an incentive. In addition, every year an award will be announced for the best projects, and the winner will be able to take a free master’s course.
«They will develop their work based on ideas and initiatives formulated by companies or cooperatives, in a training process of university-company collaboration, which allows a direct approach of the future graduate to the real problems of companies and actively participate in the search for solutions », Highlighted this Friday the general director of Universities, Christian de la Fe, in the presentation of the new program, where he was accompanied by the rectors of the UMU, José Luján; and from the UPCT, Beatriz Miguel. The event was also attended by the president of the CES and one of the main promoters of the Mare Nostrum Campus, José Antonio Cobacho.
Powerful companies based in the Region have already shown their interest in hosting final degree and master’s degree students. Among them are Sabic, Bionet, who wants to delve into projects related to the characterization of process engineering parameters for bioreactor scaling; Primafrio, which intends to work on improving efficiency to make trips more sustainable and safe and on improving energy at its headquarters; Navantia, which wants to investigate models of integral sustainability of a submarine and on the optimization of transport processes through automation and prediction; Himoinsa, Amc and Enagás, among others.
The pillars on which all the programs financed by the Campus Mare Nostrum are based are focused on promoting university education from the company, enhancing the linguistic capacity of university communities, committing to the internationalization of universities in all their fields and working in actions to increase the quality of the centers and teachings, De la Fe explained.
Sabic, Primafrio, Bionet, Navantia, Himoinsa, Amc and Enagás are some of the industries that will host students
Internationalization, connection with the world of work and increasing quality are the pillars of the project
More bilingual degrees and internships in foreign companies
The projects included in the new decree of the Campus Mare Nostrum propose the incentive to carry out student internships in foreign companies, within the initiatives to promote international mobility, and the priority to actions in support of the certification of the standards of quality in the faculties, with special attention to the drop in the ratios of non-stable teaching staff and participation in European consortia.
Another action is the implementation of a special linguistic certification plan, which gives priority to aid in those degrees where bilingual degrees are taught. The Ministry will allocate subsidies for an amount of 20,000 euros for the UMU and 10,000 euros for the UPCT, and the universities will be able to supplement these programs with their own funds. It is expected that this first time the aid will reach a minimum of 300 students, 200 from the UMU and 100 for the UPCT. The Campus of International Excellence, which has also been joined by the main research centers in the Region and leading companies, will organize the ‘Mare Nostrum’ awards “to give visibility to the training-company alliance and recognize business excellence and the contribution of these to the advancement of knowledge ».
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