On June 22 – 23, more than 100 researchers meet in person in Seville and enjoy a broad range of activities such as seminars, workshops and visits to faculties and key research centres of the University of Seville.

100 researchers from the Univerzity of  Seville (Spain), the Univerzita of Genoa (Italy), the Université Côte d’Azur (France), the Technical University of Kosice (Slovakia), MCI | The Entrepreneurial School® (Austria) and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (Finland) gather together in Seville to boost research and innovation activities in Ulysseus European University. The event is hosted by the University of Seville (USE), coordinating university of the Ulysseus alliance.

This event offers researchers the opportunity to establish new collaborations, consolidate consortiums and seize opportunities to develop future joint European projects, scientific workshops, seminars, congresses, courses and mobilities.

On the opening session, Miguel Ángel Castro, rector of the University of Seville; Julián Martínez Fernández, vice-rector for Research at the University of Seville and Coordinator of the Innovation Hub of Energy, Transport, Mobility and Smart Cities; and Carmen Vargas Macías, Ulysseus General Coordinator, welcomed the more than 100 researchers who will be attending the ULYSSEUS EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY COMPASS RESEARCHERS’ DAYS IN SEVILLE. 
Miguel Ángel Castro highlighted that, on this occasion, Research and Innovation is what brought together all six Ulysseus partner universities. COMPASS is the satellite Horizon 2020 project which supports research and innovation activities in Ulysseus. “Its aim is to establish Ulysseus as a model of excellence for Research, Technology and Development in line with the shared, integrated, long-term joint strategy of the alliance, boosting synergies between the European Research Area and the European Education Area”, said the rector. Finally, he explained that COMPASS supports concrete action plans in order to position Ulysseus as an institutional transformation model, policy influence and visibility at European level and beyond.

Ulysseus Research & Innovation Strategy and Agenda

Julián Martínez Fernández, Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Seville presented the new Ulysseus Research & Innovation Strategy agenda. 
During his presentation, he covered a range of issues that have been highlighted throughout this piece of work, from the development and implementation of research and innovation strategies to the different specialisations and the hopes and needs for Ulysseus. The agenda is the result of a comprehensive analysis conducted for several months to identify the capabilities, synergies and barriers of the alliance.

2030: A journey towards climate neutral and smart cities in Europe Seminar

The presentation of the R&I Agenda was followed by the seminar “2030: A journey towards climate neutral and smart cities in Europe”. This activity was hosted by the Innovation Hub of Energy, Transport, Mobility & Smart Cities of Ulysseus, based at the University of Seville.

The European Union selected 100 cities to join the EU Mission: 100 Climate-neutral and Smart cities by 2030 with the objective to pursue ambitious goals to slash emissions rapidly and pioneer innovative approaches with citizens and stakeholders. Seville, Helsinki and Košice, home of three Ulysseus partner universities, are in the list of shortlisted cities by the European Union.

This seminar highlighted existing actions in the alliance towards the goal of achieving smart and climate-neutral cities amongst our regions and inspires innovative actions to take place within our community, including citizens, academia, and businesses and implements transformative processes.

This seminar had the following panel of experts: Ricardo Chacartegui Ramírez (University of Seville), Blanca Gómez Dominguez (Cartuja Science & Technology Park, Seville), Maroš Halama (Technical University in Košice) and Begoña C. Arrue (University of Seville) - online stream recording.

Workshops

On 22 June, parallel workshops on Health, Food, Social Sciences & Humanities and Energy, Transport, Mobility & Smart Cities will take place. At these workshops, researchers will have the opportunity to present their European projects and network with peers to foster future collaborations.

Visits to key research centres of the University of Seville

On 23rd June, Ulysseus will organize different tours to visit schools and key research centres of the University of Seville. The researchers connected to technology will visit Tech Research Centres  as the Engineering School (ETSI); Robotics Centre & Energy Centre; the Institute of Microelectronics of Seville (IMSE); and the National Centre of Accelerators CNA). Health and biology researches will have the change to visit the Andalusian Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine Centre (CABIMER) and the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis (IBVF). Meanwhile, researchers from Social Sciences and Humanities will learn about the University of Seville Center for Cultural Initiatives (CICUS) a Fine Arts Faculty.

Bilateral meetings

Ultimately, ULYSSEUS EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY COMPASS RESEARCHERS’ DAYS IN SEVILLE aims at giving researchers the chance to network with peers. For this reason, a dedicated platform has been enabled for those who cannot attend this event in person. Through this tool, Ulysseus researchers will be able to network, view Ulysseus Innovation Hubs calls for projects’ cooperation, research and entrepreneurship, identify funding opportunities per Innovation Hubs, including calls for proposals of Horizon Europe program and Erasmus +, search for expertise, information or collaboration within the Ulysseus ecosystem and post job opportunities.

About Compass

COMPASS: Leading Ulysseus to become a European University excellence model through Research and Innovation is a Horizon 2020 project and the flagship for Ulysseus R&I agenda and strategy. This action, which is part of the Science with and for Society programme of Horizon 2020 (SwafS), will facilitate Ulysseus’ transformation process towards becoming a European university through a common R&I strategy that will in turn consolidate its Innovation Ecosystem.