Uniting the Best Science Minds in the US, Spain
A three-year partnership will establish, disseminate, and promote science in Catalonia, some of which will engage non-scientific members of the public.
Published March 8, 2010
By Adrienne J. Burke
Academy Contributor
The New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy) and Talència, (formerly known as the Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca i la Innovació) of Barcelona have established a collaboration aimed at promoting science in the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain.
The three-year partnership will establish, disseminate, and promote science in Catalonia through a variety of measures. First, the Academy and Talència have agreed to collaborate on the development of several high-quality scientific symposia in interdisciplinary topics to highlight Catalonia science to the global scientific community. Public lectures associated with each scientific event will also translate the science presented at these symposia for non-scientific audiences, thereby increasing scientific knowledge in Catalonia. To further promote public understanding of science in Catalonia, the agreement aims to provide additional opportunities for Catalan non-scientists to listen to world-renowned thought leaders discuss relevant and interesting scientific issues.
Communicating Science
The Academy and Talència have also agreed to create and disseminate professional print and electronic materials that present to the Catalan scientific community and the world the scientific research being undertaken in Catalonia. And the Academy has agreed to work to connect up-and-coming young Catalan scientists with other promising young faculty and post-docs globally via the Science Alliance. The agreement calls for the Academy to offer 100 one-year memberships to the Alliance to support the best and brightest Catalan scientists-in-training.
Talència, a public institution and instrument of the Government of Catalonia, implements measures aimed at fostering and recognizing research in Catalonia, and seeks to become a useful organization and an international reference point for its research community.
As a new research-boosting institution in Catalonia, Talència is set up to contribute to the mandate of the Catalan Agreement on Research and Innovation (CARI)—promoted by the Catalan Ministry of Innovation, Research and Innovation and signed in October 2008—which raises the need of adopting a new intelligent, efficient, and effective research governance system in Catalonia, amongst other challenges.
Also read: A New Partnership Aims to Strengthen US-China STEM Collaborations
