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IUC 2019 Phase 2 UO

Ongoing

The programme is about research in topics which are significant at institutional, regional and country level. Five research and development projects have been foreseen for: environment & food production, human health, biotechnology & natural products, cultural heritage and new materials for industry. To support the above R&D projects a transversal project allowing the University of Oriente to structure its doctoral school while offering its doctorands an environment where they not only acquire scientific skills, but are also trained towards communicating research results, innovation and transfer of innovation to industry and society, along with the reinforcement of the digitization of the university administration.

Five main outputs of phase I are the baseline for this phase-II programme: [1] human resources capacity building. PhDs, Master, Postdocs and undergraduate students formed and/or supported by the programme, [2] reinforcement of research results and outputs such as publications, participation in international congress, awards and IP protection, [3] reinforcement of laboratory infrastructure for education research, ICT and English learning, [4] interdisciplinary doctoral programmes about environment, biotechnology, biomedical technologies, heritage and basic sciences and [5] an operative Technology Transfer Office (TTO) as institutional interface between the University and stakeholders for valorisation of research results with societal and economic impact.

The IUC Programme has a crucial role for research & development within the university. Indeed, twelve of the fourteen existing UO faculties are directly involved in the programme (e.g. Natural & Basic sciences, Social and Humanities, Laws, Economics, Engineering’s and Education). English preparation will be addressed by a transversal project about Doctoral School and Innovation (see Programme Strategy) supported by the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL) and aims to teach English for Scientific Purposes on transdisciplinary subjects in the field of basic and social sciences, biotechnology and engineering. CATFLAg has an added value as the only one existing centre in Cuban HEIs for the TOEFL certification of students. The FFL will continue with basic courses and services as style editing, translation and interpretation. The programme involves the main Research centres of the university, namely, the Centre for Industrial Biotechnology (CEBI), the Centre for Integrated Management of Coastal Area (CEMZOC), the Centre for Neuroprocessing of Digital Signals & Images (CENPIS), the Centre Medical Biophysics (CBM) and the Centre for Applied Electromagnetism (CNEA). All these institutes coordinate research topics and PhD programmes. Apart from the research institutes, three Vice-rectorates are involved to improve their infrastructure and capacity building for services supporting research, such as ICT, library and technology transfer.

At the institutional level the programme had impact on human resources and laboratory infrastructure. Moreover, it allowed changing the institutional policy for research, innovation and postgraduate training. Other strategic processes such as internationalization, communication and visibility as extension have also been improved. In this 2nd phase of the IUC programme, the focus will be on the valorisation and sustainability of research results and outputs, in line with the strategic plan of the university 1. Moreover, the new transversal project on improvement of professional competences, that will be coordinated at the institutional level, foresees changes in PhD training contributing to the strengthening and redesign of the postgraduate training at UO and other HEIs in the eastern part.

The expected outputs of the programme fit well the strategic areas of the National Plan for Social Development of Cuba until the year 2030 (Agenda 2030) as productive transformation and international insertion, human potential, infrastructure, science – technology – innovation, natural resources & environment, human development, justice and equity 2. The planned research topics respond to clear demands of strategic industries and companies of the territory such as rum factories, equipment and medical devices, biotechnology, software development and tourism; but also, to the needs of societal sectors such as the Laboratory of Hydraulic Resources, Historical Archives, Environment Ministry and others.

Intervention type

Institutional University Cooperation

Duration

01/01/2019 - 31/12/2022

This project is being implemented in:
Flemish coordinator Roger Vounckx
Local coordinator Teresa Orberá Ratón
Programme manager Rubén Guillermo Pellicer Durán
Flemish institution Vrije Universiteit Brussel
visit www.vub.ac.be
Local partner institution Universidad de Oriente
visit https://www.uo.edu.cu/
Other Flemish Partners Universiteit Antwerpen
visit www.uantwerpen.be
Universiteit Hasselt
visit www.uhasselt.be
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
visit www.vub.ac.be
Budget € 2.110.000