We spoke with the vice-rector of the Ferrol Industrial Campus (CIF) about the campus strategy: training, talent, teaching and research activity oriented towards the socio-productive fabric of its environment and the objectives of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) for Galicia, which is key to the economic and social development of our region.

The CIF is the first specialisation campus accredited by the Xunta de Galicia and in the entire Spanish university system. What does this accreditation mean?

It is recognition of the existing relationship with industry in the field of research, transfer and the effort made to have a more compact and consolidated educational programme geared to the needs of the productive fabric.

The process of accreditation has also been a good exercise in reflection allowing us to identify the strengths of the campus and the points for improvement, which are currently being addressed.

Finally, it represents the start of a new stage in which we intend to move up a notch to position the campus as a benchmark and an ally for the promotion of smart industry, advanced manufacturing and energy transition.

What is the roadmap for the Campus?

The Ferrol Industrial Campus has a roadmap set out in a Strategic Plan for the 2021-2026 period, which covers 27 lines of action based on 6 main objectives.

The first is to create a professional, active and participatory governance structure that includes companies and public bodies in order to be in touch with the needs of industry and society.

The second is to establish an updated strategy for the Ferrol Industrial Campus that is close to the needs of smart industry and that allows it to be identified as a centre for creating knowledge and R&D specialising in 6 lines of research: robotics, composites, optimisation of industrial processes, naval and offshore engineering, industrial management and product development.

The third is to promote and renew the teaching offer in such a way that it is aligned with the needs of the business fabric, updating existing qualifications and creating new ones, incorporating specialised seminars given by industry professionals and improving infrastructures and teaching equipment.

The fourth is to reinforce R&D&I so that the CIF becomes a leading driving force in the naval, maritime port, logistics, industry, fashion and metal sectors, supporting the accreditation of our research centre as a Research Centre for Naval and Industrial Technologies.

The fifth is to strengthen the relationship with the productive fabric, updating our map of capabilities, taking part in meetings with business clusters and companies, organising seminars and direct and inverse technological missions to raise awareness of the capabilities and the possibility of cooperation in R&D.

Finally, to make the CIF visible via social networks, our website and specialised media, or by organising events for society that contribute to the public standing of the Ferrol Industrial Campus.

It should also be noted that these 6 strategic objectives and lines of action include cross-cutting values such as internationalisation and sustainability.

You are carrying out an important teaching and research activity associated with the socio-productive fabric of the area, with what results?

The measures taken to update the educational programme obviously contribute to ensuring that graduates have the necessary skills to be able to support industry in its digitisation and transformation process.

On the other hand, we have created ongoing training courses tailored to the needs of the company and given by our research staff in areas related to additive manufacturing, materials and digital twins.

In the field of research, our research staff's research findings are made available to the manufacturing sector through contracts or agreements for the provision of scientific-technical services, customised projects, access to testing infrastructures, etc... which has led to 114 contracts and projects between 2018-2021 and more than 75 companies with whom we have worked.

We also compete for research projects, most of the time in cooperation with industry, through national or international invitations for proposals, which has resulted in 73 research projects, 17 patents applied for and 3 software registrations in the last 3 years.

I would like to mention the successful transfer case of the Navantia-UDC Joint Research Unit, in force between 2015 and 2021 with the financial support of the Galician Innovation Agency. The research areas worked on were process optimisation, product optimisation and ICT integration, which resulted in, among other things, two patents, 95 publications, 16 lines of research and a technology transfer award.

This partnership model with Navantia can continue in the years to come through the Navantia-UDC Joint Research Centre, which has just been awarded by the Galician Innovation Agency, and which will allow us to continue transferring the knowledge of our research staff and to put innovation at the service of Navantia and the supply industry.

How does the CIF contribute to the economic and social development of Galicia?

The lines of specialisation of the CIF are aligned with Galicia's strategic industrial sectors (naval, energy and textile) and Galicia's Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) and also with the thematic areas of R&D&I policies at national and international level.

In the industrial market there is an increasing demand for professionals trained and specialised in the branches offered by the CIF which are related to the strategic industrial sectors of Galicia; the energy transition (green and renewable energies), smart industry and the factory of the future, etc. but also in emerging sectors such as the video game industry, which will contribute to promoting employment.

Ferrol's position in the naval sector both nationally and internationally and the number of driving companies that exist in Ferrol and the region related to the CIF's areas of specialisation should also be highlighted. All these companies have a constant need for innovation and the Ferrol Industrial Campus can contribute to improving competitiveness, efficiency and sustainability by making the work of around 140 researchers, 11 research groups, two specific service laboratories and a research centre for naval and industrial technologies available to them. In this way, the Ferrol Industrial Campus contributes to supporting the technological innovation necessary to carry out the transformation process that the business fabric is now undergoing.

What are the talent retention measures in place?

The Ferrol Industrial Campus has launched its own programme to attract and retain postdoctoral and predoctoral talent called "Research Talent" and "Talent in Training" respectively, where two postdocs and four predocs have already joined in recent months and another three predocs will join soon. 

Also in 2022, with the idea of promoting, consolidating and highlighting the unique capabilities of R&D in smart industry, an industrial doctorate programme was carried out, which incorporated researchers from 2 companies in the region.

Of course, the Industrial Campus Office also collaborates with the application for regional and national calls for applications for pre-docs, post-docs and industrial doctorates.

You promote a network of female international researchers, what are the objectives and what have you achieved so far?

The internationalisation of the Campus must be a cross-cutting issue in most of the actions set out in our Strategic Plan, starting with our governance system where we have international representation and our staff, as the Office itself has an internationalisation technician to boost the actions aimed at making the CIF more visible beyond our borders.

For example, efforts are being made to increase the number of programmes shared with other universities, such as the Erasmus Mundus 4.0 Master's Degree or the master's degree in Complex Materials, and to promote programmes with bilingual teaching, such as the Degree in Industrial Fashion Management or the Degree in International Relations. We are also supporting, with our own invitations for applications, both the exchange of our teaching staff abroad, for teaching or research activities, and attracting foreign students through a scholarship programme or visits by researchers from other universities. The calls to attract talent are also focused on bringing excellent researchers who are developing their careers abroad and wish to return. Finally, in the field of research and transfer, the CIF cooperates in international networks with various universities and companies, with which it has applied for funding in European projects, the mobility of trainees and even the creation of a chair with an internationalised company.