Campus do Mar, a collective experiment towards marine excellence
Campus do Mar is an International Campus of Excellence, awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science in 2010, consisting of the aggregation of the three Galician universities: University of Vigo, University of Santiago de Compostela, University of A Coruña, the Spanish Higher Research Council (CSIC) and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) together with seven Portuguese universities and polytechnic Institutes, and technological clusters and research centres from the Galician-Northern Portugal region (www.campusdomar.es).
It is a R&D aggregation in Ocean Sciences and Technology, implemented along the northwest Iberian Peninsula with an international projection, under the umbrella of the Ocean as a unifying element and competitive advantage. The Campus aspires at becoming the dynamic force behind a transnational and integrated research, education and technology transfer network, supported by the Galician and Northern Portugal stakeholders.
Research of excellence for the productive sectors
More than 3.000 researchers are currently involved in the four R&D clusters aligned with the following challenges: “Ocean Observing and Global Change”, “Sustainable Use of Marine Resources”, “Integrated Coastal Zone Management” and “Competitiveness: technological progress and business management”. Four additional emerging research lines were identified: “Analysis and modelling of complex marine systems”, “Omic technologies applied to the marine environment”, “Marine energy” and “Marine Products”. The research conducted in Campus do Mar should have a direct impact on the society and the productive sectors. To that aim, the technology transfer Area of Campus do Mar has been created to promote the linkage between the marine economic sectors and the research generated within the research groups of Campus do Mar.
Investment in human capital: training, mobility and talent recruitment
Campus do Mar is a knowledge-generation project focussed on human capital and, as a consequence, training, mobility and employability initiatives are at the core of our action plan, in particular by encouraging visits of researchers to centres of recognized international prestige with the goal of achieving scientific excellence.
The talent recruitment programme contributes to reinforce our research groups and to promote the formation of international networks. In this regard, ten foreign experienced post-doctoral researchers funded by the EU COFUND programme will be incorporated over the next months by the Campus do Mar institutions.
DO*MAR, the flagship of the formation programme of the Campus of Excellence
The doctorate programme “Marine Science, Technology and Management” (DO*MAR), launched in 2012, is the main initiative of the Campus of Excellence in the formation domain.
It is a joint degree of the three Galician universities, three universities from Northern Portugal, the CSIC and the IEO, which emerges with a global perspective and multi-annual planning on an international and cross-border basis.
The objective is to train the best professionals and researchers in different scientific and technological marine areas as well as in their economic and social applications, generating quality research with an international impact, offering the industry the best tools to improve competitiveness at a global scale.
The lessons, given exclusively in English by outstanding professors from the most prestigious institutions in the world, are broadcast live and recorded to facilitate their accessibility at any time and from any institution of the Campus.
A sustainable campus created for the society
Creating a network of marine knowledge goes far beyond research, teaching and technology transfer. Dissemination of the research generated at the laboratories is a central objective of the Campus of Excellence. To that aim, an ambitious social outreach programme is being developed
Campus do Mar is a forward-looking project that is already becoming a reality. Built on favourable initial conditions, enhancing strengths, correcting weaknesses, and with the determined commitment from each of its members to focus on training, talent recruitment and internationalization is leading to the success in creating an encouraging environment for the acquisition of a more in-depth knowledge on the oceans.
For more information please see: www.campusdomar.es.
