ESADE and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), a pioneer in the supercomputing field in Spain, have agreed on lines of collaboration that will facilitate scientific progress by bringing science and business closer together.
The agreement opens up the possibility of the two institutions jointly organising educational programmes, sharing information in order to undertake European projects, advising one another, and launching other cooperation initiatives.
Eugenia Bieto, Director General of ESADE, commented: "Without a doubt, this collaboration agreement will help us to train executives who are sensitive to science and technology and have the sort of multidisciplinary profile that is ever more in demand among employers. But it will also have an impact that goes beyond our institution’s guiding objective of academic excellence. It could lead to science- and technology-based business projects being brought to market, and it will also foster public-private collaboration."
Francesc Subirada, Associate Director of the BSC-CNS, commented: "Like other cutting-edge research centres in Spain, the BSC-CNS produces top-tier knowledge and technology that can be transformed into economic and social value. We are confident that collaboration with ESADE will enable us to accelerate this transfer process and establish direct contact between our scientists and business experts. I’m convinced that this collaboration with ESADE will produce tangible results in the medium term."
Experiences for students
All projects undertaken by the two institutions will be related to the BSC-CNS’s top-priority research areas and will also be approved by ESADE. The projects will initially target students in the Masters of Science and University Masters programmes, within the framework of the end-of-studies projects. In a later phase, the two institutions will explore the possibility of assigning group projects in other ESADE programmes, such as the MBA or the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).
The agreement envisages the possibility of the BSC-CNS team holding talks on "science-to-business" topics in order to introduce students to the world of science. Additionally, ESADE faculty members may become involved in business creation and innovation management in order to introduce the concept of economic and social value creation to researchers and students with ties to the BSC-CNS.
Students will also have the opportunity to visit MareNostrum, the most powerful supercomputer in Spain and one of the most powerful in Europe. MareNostrum is used in research on the human genome, protein structures, the design of new drugs, and engineering projects that involve industry collaboration.
Commitment to science and innovation
The new agreement also envisages the possibility of ESADE and BSC-CNS taking part in European projects and exploring ways to jointly develop educational programmes or modules related to each institution’s area of specialisation.
The BSC-CNS is a public consortium formed in 2005 through an agreement between the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, the Catalan Government, and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Its mission is to investigate, develop and manage information technology in order to facilitate scientific progress.
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