Due to the global economic recession, European science is in serious risk of grinding to a halt whose consequences are currently unpredictable. According to Nature magazine, various pan-European facilities, all funded from contributions by the member states of the European Union, could be affected by the economic constraints caused by the global financial crisis.

XAVIER PUJOL GEBELLÍ | SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2010

Since the beginning of the economic crisis, experts have not stopped repeating that the best way to mitigate its effects and avoid its negative impacts on the future is to invest in more and higher-quality research, development and innovation. However, only some countries have initiated this adventure decisively. Thanks to a broad consensus of internal agreements aimed at increasing the excellence of its research facilities and partially reforming its educational system, Germany is currently the best example in Europe.

Xavier Pujol Gebellí | AUGUST 10th, 2010

Adapt or, as the saying goes, die trying. Spanish universities, pressured by the construction of the joint European higher education system, have no choice but to make important reforms, some of them structural in nature. Teaching practices, whose criteria have been established in the Bologna process, have already started the transformation process with resources that not a few have described as scarce and the difficulties inherent in any period of change. But a modern university that aspires to be competitive must include qualities that go beyond its role in social and territorial cohesion. Research and innovation, in terms of knowledge transfer, are priorities that Europe considers "non-negotiable."

Xavier Pujol Gebellí | June 10, 2010