The NeurotechEU alliance has held its seventh Board of Rectors Meeting at the University of Reykjavik

31 de May de 2024

Helping the scientific community—both present and future—find solutions to various health problems related to neuroscience and neurotechnology is the main goal of the European University of Brain and Technology (NeurotechEU), a project that, from the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, is led by the professor of Physiology and researcher at the Institute for Neuroscience UMH-CSIC Juana Gallar. Represented by its rector, Juan José Ruiz, the UMH participated in the seventh meeting of the NeurotechEU Board of Rectors, held at the University of Reykjavik in Iceland.

Other UMH personalities who took part in the meeting were the vice-rector for Internationalization and Cooperation, Vicente Micol; the rector’s representative for Digital Transference, Federico Botella; the vice-rector for Institutional Positioning and Rankings, José Manuel Blanes; and the Director of the International Relations Service, Inmaculada Blaya.

After starting the second phase of NeurotechEU in December 2023, these conferences have determined and approved the following steps. The aim is to create an inter-university campus in which education is linked to research, innovation, and society.

In addition to Juana Gallar, several others participated in the work sessions to strengthen the alliance. These included Silvia De Santis, a researcher from the Institute for Neurosciences, a joint center of the UMH and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC); José María Azorín, a researcher from the Institute for Research and Engineering from Elche I3E-UMH and a professor; Ángeles Gallar, a journalist from the Communication, Marketing, and Students Service; María José Such, an expert in quality and project management; and PhD students Cristina Polo and Paula Soriano.

During the meeting at the University of Reykjavik campus, the partner rectors received updates on the alliance’s progress. They discussed the next steps to strengthen student mobility and collaboration among teaching, research, and management staff. The goal is to address the challenges posed by population aging and the increasing prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases in the coming decades through specialized education and scientific research.

NeurotechEU is an initiative funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union and by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Government of Spain. It is a consortium that is made up of UMH, Radboud University (Netherlands), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), University of Bonn (Germany), Bosphorus University (Turkey), Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), the University of Lille (France) and the University of Reykjavík (Iceland). The European University for Brain and Technology aims to create an inter-university higher education campus, a flexible space shared between the eight universities in which education is linked to research, innovation, and society.

The alliance brings together a human capital of more than 220,000 students and 42,000 people dedicated to higher education and research.  NeurotechEU increases competitiveness in European education, research, economy, and society, by building a trans-European network of excellence in brain research and technologies. The board of this alliance is formed by the rectors of the eight-member universities –the UMH is the only Spanish partner involved– and meets regularly to discuss the project’s progress and guide the next steps.

Source: NeurotechEU, UMH