Presentation of guidelines for the European Office of the A-4U
A strategic space in Brussels for UC3M researchers
2/11/16
On February 9th, on the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Leganés campus, the guidelines for the Office for the Promotion of European Research (OPERA) were presented. The OPERA was created by the Alliance of 4 Universities, whose goal is to foster international participation of researchers in European scientific projects.
UC3M Vice Chancellor of Scientific Policy, Francisco Javier Prieto, was a speaker at the inauguration. He observed that the OPERA, whose permanent headquarters is in Brussels, is one of the main projects being developed within the framework of the A-4U. Next, the director of the center, Stefanie Ubrig, outlined the main activities and support services it provides to researchers to aid their participation in the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
From the OPERA, researchers are given support in seeking funding opportunities and partners for joint research projects. Contacts with European institutions are provided (such as the networks IGLO or ERRIN, among others), participation of UC3M professors in evaluation committees is promoted and strategies are developed to improve success in participation in EU Framework Programmes, among other activities. “It is constant work that provides an added value and aiming to cover the needs of university researchers,” said Ubrig.
In turn, Director of UC3M Research Service, Regina García Beato, pointed out that in the last few years, coinciding with the existence of OPERA, the number and quality of proposals have increased, according to studies carried out within the A-4U framework. The activity of this office helps researchers become familiar with and follow the process of preparing EU-backed research calls, which gives them more time and guarantees to prepare their proposals.
Work spaces in the heart of Europe
The office provides UC3M researchers a set of spaces for meetings (3 rooms which seat 15, 20 and 95 people) and 12 individual work stations with Internet connection and photocopying, fax and printing services. Use of the facilities is open and free of charge with a reservation. In addition, the OPERA is well-connected to the airport and only a few minutes from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and the European Parliament.
The OPERA tends to researchers from the A-4U, a strategic university alliance made up of UC3M, the UAB, the UAM and the UPF. The goals of the OPERA are to improve the international mobility of students, researchers and scholars, collaborate on research projects with universities worldwide, foment English in their institutions and promote the international image of the universities that constitute it.
More information:
http://www.alliance4universities.eu/a4u/es/content/contact-opera
Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eventosuc3m/albums/72157664493732216
