Rosa Maria Sebastián is the first woman to direct the PRUAB (the UAB Research Park), after taking over from Javier Lafuente, the university's previous rector. The UAB Research Park is a non-profit foundation, created by three leading research entities: the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Superior Council of Scientific Investigations (CSIC) and the Institute of Research and Agro-Food Technology ( IRTA). Its mission is to promote and improve the technology and knowledge transfer activities of its members, to promote entrepreneurial activity through the creation of new companies based on research and, in general, to facilitate the interaction between research, the business world and the society
His research has evolved from the synthetic study of small molecules to the preparation of polymeric materials. He currently supervises a consolidated funded research group and has supervised nine PhD theses and seven in progress. In addition, he has participated in four competitive projects and fifteen contracts with companies, from which twelve patents in operation have been derived, two Industrial Doctorates and the National Research Award for Public-Private Partnership between the UAB and Henkel KGaA & Co.
- First of all, congratulations on being appointed as the new director of PRUAB, the UAB Research Park and for being the first woman to preside over the Park. How do you see the future of research in the context we are living with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic?
Thank you for the congratulations. It is an honor to be the director of the PRUAB and to have the possibility to contribute my grain of sand with my ideas and my work to boost the transfer of technology and knowledge from the University and research centers of our Sphere, and being able to innovate in the challenges that our society asks of us. The fact of being the first woman is important to show the new generations, with one more example, that women can occupy any managerial position.
In relation to your question, I think that this pandemic situation, which no one could foresee in our time, has made society and governments realize the great importance of doing research. Obviously at the moment research focused on biomedicine, virology and biotechnology, for the development of the long-awaited vaccines, is the most popular.
Scientists have quickly reoriented themselves to provide answers to the needs of the population, and this has given us a value that, until now, was not much recognized. And this has been possible thanks to his knowledge and his ability to adapt to needs. We hope that this will be transformed in the coming years into an improvement in the financing of this sector, although it seems to me that we will still have to wait, given the current situation of economic crisis.
On the other hand, this situation has boosted collaboration between different groups of scientists, who have shared their results in order to achieve their milestones much more quickly. This has shown all of us scientists the great advantages of working with open science, sharing all the results; a process that is increasingly enhanced by the official entities that mainly provide our funding. The European Community is betting very strongly on this process.
- As director of the PRUAB and vice-rector of Innovation and Strategic Projects at the UAB, have you set new milestones to promote knowledge transfer and collaborative research?
From the UAB and the PRUAB, efforts are already being made in this direction on a daily basis. We must be able to give back to the society that finances us, knowledge and technology that can improve the quality of our lives. Obviously, the current government team, and myself as a member, will continue to bet on promoting this transfer of knowledge and collaborative research.
The UAB is a multidisciplinary university and this opens up a wide range of possibilities for collaborative research between our own groups, but also with companies to meet complex challenges. This is an issue in which we must orientate ourselves in order to obtain, on the one hand, multidisciplinary European projects in which different researchers, but also companies, participate. Convincing a company to participate in government-funded projects is not always easy, as the results are obtained in the long term, and the business sector works on a different time scale, generally different from research centers. But, at this point, the existence of previous relationships, such as the Industrial Doctorates, help to establish a trust that allows us to go further and further by working together.
The PRUAB is our most visible point of connection with the industrial environment and the rest of the territory (public administrations and the third sector), and through it, we mainly have to win the trust and interest of the companies towards the results obtained in our community and enhance collaborations.
To carry out part of these actions that I have just mentioned, the UAB through the PRUAB participates in the Hub b30, an open innovation network, which helps to promote collaboration, economic development and social cohesion in the territory that surrounds our entity.
So far, many actions promoted by the PRUAB have been carried out, but they still need to increase, aiming to achieve more specific objectives, in order to increase this collaborative research, which is so important to improving our society, valuing the knowledge provided by the UAB
- You already have experience with Industrial Doctorates, you have directed two Industrial Doctorate theses. How has the experience been with collaborative research?
Yes, indeed, I have directed two Industrial Doctorate Theses and now we are waiting for the final resolution, since we have requested another one from our research group, in which I participate.
The research experience has been very good. These doctorates allow for a symbiosis between the knowledge available to researchers at universities and business needs. I find it to be a very enriching process for both parties.
He has given us experience in the industrial world. As I mentioned before, it has helped us build trust with companies and opened up the possibility of establishing further collaborations. It has also given us experience in new research topics, which were not the ones we were working on at the beginning, but which have become new lines of research for the group. Specifically, I worked on catalysis with small molecules, and now a good part of the group works in the field of polymers, precisely the area in which the two Industrial Doctorates that have already finished have focused. These doctorates have given us insight into the challenges of society, and we have redirected ourselves towards them. We also have a much more open vision towards industrial collaborations and we have lost the fear of not being ready to give the answer that the company asks for. And what is also very important, we have learned to deal with our fellow industrial researchers, and make them see the value we can offer them.
Most of the researchers in universities and research centers mainly focus on doing fundamental research, and although currently, the entities that finance it, increasingly ask that this research be directed towards the challenges of society, we are still quite far from real applications. Although more technology and knowledge is also patented in universities, the ability to transfer it to companies or generate spin-offs is still very small, compared to all the results that are generated.
Industrial PhDs offer researchers the possibility to apply their knowledge to meet industrial challenges, which are always very close to real applications to offer society.
This type of project allows to open the mentality of researchers from public institutions, realizing their ability to act on real needs, but also allows industrialists to learn to value the capabilities that these researchers from public institutions can offer them . This joint work generates trust between the different actors which translates, on many occasions, into more future collaborations.
We must not forget the main objective of these Industrial Doctorates which is to give students a great opportunity, who achieve knowledge and work skills similar to those obtained with a non-industrial doctorate, but at the same time they are trained in how a company thinks and works, skills that the other doctors we generate cannot achieve.
I think they are a very good initiative for all actors, which is why, in our group, we continue to participate whenever we have the opportunity.
- Researchers are often wary of companies agreeing to publish results. Do you think that enough mechanisms currently exist so that this is not an impediment to advancing research and publishing results?
An Industrial Doctorate, with the experience it entails, is in itself an important value for a researcher. In addition, it generates trust with the company, which can lead to other collaborations (agreements, projects, etc.) that should not be underestimated. While it is true that it is necessary for the researcher to be prepared not to publish, as companies are quite reluctant, but it is possible to patent results, and this is even more important, although not always as valued as an article ! But this, I am confident, will change!
Fortunately, more and more, researchers' CVs value their participation in transfer projects and their participation as inventors of patents in use. This encourages researchers not to worry so much about not being able to publish, benefiting initiatives such as Industrial Doctorates.
While it is true that most companies are not used to publishing, many times this possibility exists. In general, larger companies recognize that it is important to be seen as devoting part of their budget to research, and they accept publications, as long as it does not affect the exploitation of the knowledge generated.
Each situation is different, but researchers, when they decide to participate in an Industrial Doctorate, must be able to see the potential that these can bring to them, to redirect their lines of research, to open up new challenges that they can face in the future , etc. and not just assess the possibility of publishing or not.
The process is very enriching as I have already mentioned. In addition, researchers, and even more so university professors, aim to train doctors. For students, the possibility of doing an Industrial Doctorate is very good, since they learn to do applied research, learn how a company works, what are the criteria that are valued and the qualities they look for in their staff, and this is very valuable for them In other words, for this reason alone, to be able to offer students this opportunity, we should already have enough!
- We continue with the collaborative research of DIs, where university and company share objectives and resources. What do you think this applied research can contribute to society? Can you give us an example of this impact in your field? Do you think it also helps to make basic research visible to society?
Research applied to society brings well-being! When industrial research is carried out, the company obviously wants to make money, but it must be focused on the needs of society. If this need is met, everyone wins.
Unfortunately, of the two DIs we have participated in, we have not obtained any patents in operation. In one of the cases, the possibility of generating one was studied, but in the end this option was not chosen. Of course, we were able to publish the results in a high-impact journal. But I do want to take the opportunity to state that other collaborations with the same company, which were generated by this trust that I mentioned earlier, in which the Industrial Doctorate has played a leading role, have given the group more than 12 patents in operation , in the preparation of monomers and polymers for different industrial applications in the field of adhesives.
In these industrial applications, basic research is hidden behind industrial production. What should be conveyed to society is that every technological or social advance has the last basic research, even if it is hidden by the final applications.
To carry out the two Industrial Doctorates in which we have participated, all the time we have been consulting scientific articles resulting from the basic research of other researchers, together with the previous knowledge obtained in companies. Without that input, it's hard to move forward. We could say that basic research corresponds to the bricks that make it possible to build industrial challenges. Seeing the final construction we cannot forget that it is supported by these bricks!
- In a DI project, industrial doctors act as a link between the two environments and help to consolidate knowledge transfer relationships, do you think it is a first step for industry to better integrate the figure of the doctor within its institutions?
Obviously, without a doubt!! In many cases, the trained doctors end up integrated in the companies where they did the doctorate or in other very close ones. They are very well trained, and the fact that they have the basic training of PhDs plus the knowledge of how a company works and its needs, gives them extra value over conventional PhD students. It is easier for them to join the labor market.
For the company, a doctor is a very important asset. From our experience, the company wants to keep this person, and uses the Industrial Doctorate to train them with the profile they need to strengthen their research structure. I think that the initiative of the Industrial Doctorates in this sense is a success.
