From 7 to 9 November, the third edition of Transfer Week - NODE UPF was held, an initiative promoted by the office of the vice-rector for Knowledge Transfer and the UPF Board of Trustees, which concentrated various activities to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and scientific dissemination, to give visibility to the firm commitment of Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) to the social and economic environment.

Vanesa Daza: “Innovation and knowledge are the pillars that drive progress in our society”

This commitment highlights the capacity of the university community to create and promote new ideas and to apply the knowledge generated outside the academic field, as Vanesa Daza, vice-rector for Knowledge Transfer points out: “Innovation and knowledge are the pillars that drive progress in our society”. And in this sense, Daza values most positively the creation of significant bridges that promote collaboration and transformation, integrating the vision of the university with the needs of the world that surround it, and she adds: “This is the purpose of this week of  knowledge: to innovate, connect and transform, all of us together”. And, in order to achieve this goal, NODE UPF has acted as a mouthpiece for some actions in which the different actors involved in the transfer process have interacted and collaborated to contribute to the creation of social and economic impact.

In Residence and ARSENAL, promoting emerging talent

The first activity was the presentation of a selection of projects from the In Residence and ARSENAL incubation programmes, two transfer initiatives focusing on UPF’s cultural and creative industries. The event was held in the Tallers Area of the Poblenou campus and showcased the emerging talent and initiatives of the community, highlighting entrepreneurship and applied research projects with an innovative nature and artistic and audiovisual proposals with the potential to reach the general public. These participatory sessions fostered dialogue, with the involvement of relevant figures from the cultural and creative industries, as well as institutional representatives, researchers, professors and students of UPF.

These programmes offer support and accompaniment to disruptive projects, providing them with services and resources to develop their talent in collaboration with the university community. Mani Martínez, from the In Residence project Keynema, thinks that this support is essential in the business development process, yet more so for young people like them who come from a highly technical field: “In Residence has given us a whole network of expertise, contacts, and information on how to source grants, how to prepare the search for investors, a whole world that was rather unknown to us”.

UPFeina: connecting talent and job opportunities

The second day was notable for the 19th edition of the UPFeina job fair on the Ciutadella campus. With 80 companies participating, this event provided a space for networking and short interviews between students, alumni and the participating companies, becoming established as a point of reference for labour and internship opportunities.

Presentation of Fractus and delivery of the UPF start-up seal: innovative entrepreneurship

Continuing with the University’s desire to make this return to society visible, last year the UPF start-up seal was created to showcase newly created companies that are led by UPF alumni. And, coinciding with NODE UPF, the UPF Start-up seal was awarded to three innovative start-ups in the UPF community: The Hist and GoGreen of the In Residence programme, and Notka Chocolate. Paloma Rodiles, CEO of The Hist believes that: “The UPF start-up seal will mark a watershed for our start-up”, a recognition that highlights the evolution that this project has undergone with the support of In Residence, which has enabled defining its business model and opening up to the market. Meanwhile, Pol Llansana, co-founder of Notka Chocolate, also makes a very positive assessment of this recognition: “the university trained us in many of the skills that we are now using to undertake this project and this brings it to full circle, returning all that our training has provided us with and taking advantage of all the facilities, either through the Almogàvers space, or to get talent from the university that has a very high level of professionalism”. 

Prior to the delivery, the book “Fractus, el ave fénix” (Fractus, the phoenix) was presented by its author Rubén Bonet. This book is a very inspiring example for those who want to get started in the world of academic entrepreneurship.  

UPF Social and Business Forum: a key alliance for transformation and innovation

Montserrat Vendrell: “we want to help strengthen the connection between UPF and the business fabric, establishing new complicities to tackle current and future challenges”.

The Transfer Week culminated in the re-foundational session of the UPF Social and Business Forum. This forum, promoted by the Board of Trustees, has emerged as an initiative that fosters synergies between the university and the business world, with the aim of generating mutual value and jointly addressing the challenges and opportunities of the present and of the future, in the workplace, in academia and in society. It is a network for dialogue and collaboration, with a notable presence of alumni holding positions of responsibility in the respective companies that strengthen these connections. As the president of the UPF Board of Trustees, Montserrat Vendrell, points out: “Through the Forum, we want to help strengthen the connection between UPF and the business fabric, establishing new complicities to tackle current and future challenges”. 

The session, which involved representatives of some forty companies and organizations and members of the university’s management, provided an opportunity for reflection and debate on how to improve and strengthen university-business relations and on the future of work, based on a presentation given by Albert Cañigueral. Irene Tarradellas, director of Impact Hub Barcelona, UPF alumni and representative of this group on the Board of Trustees, believes that it is very important to “create spaces for meeting, sharing and learning, each with different capacities to influence and mobilize”. And she adds: “Alone we can get somewhere, but together we can go further”.

With this third edition, once again, NODE UPF Knowledge Transfer Week consolidates the University as a benchmark in the connection between academia and the business world, promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and strategic collaboration.