Fundación General CSIC (FGCSIC), in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and its Deputy Vice-Presidency for Knowledge Transfer (VATC), and the Madrid-CEOE Business Confederation (CEIM), organised a telematic conference on the 19th of January dedicated to the public-private collaboration in the areas and productive sectors related to Humanities and Social Sciences.
More than fifty organisations, including companies, universities and other institutions, took part in this event, which provided a first-hand insight into the CSIC’s Centre for Human and Social Sciences (CCHS-CSIC) and its six research institutes. It also served to highlight the economic and social value of the results of research in Humanities and Social Sciences.
The meeting was attended by Elea Giménez, Managing Director of the CCHS-CSIC; the directors of the CCHS-CSIC research institutes; Ángela Ribeiro, Deputy Vice-President for Knowledge Transfer at the CSIC and Vicente Parras, Deputy Director of Technological Innovation in the Community of Madrid. In her speech, the Managing Director of the CCHS-CSIC emphasised that “transfer from Humanities and Social Sciences to productive sectors does occur and is evident”, and although it is not as visible or does not reach such high amounts as in other fields, she pointed out that, in the last five years, the research institutes that form part of this centre “have signed 51 technology support contracts worth almost 900,000 euros with institutions and companies of very different types, in addition to the provision of services, R&D contracts or donations that are not accounted for”. The CSIC’s Deputy Vice-President for Knowledge Transfer then explained the different types of contracts that can be made with the CSIC. For his part, the Deputy Director of Technological Innovation in the Community of Madrid outlined the R&D aid programmes that are applicable in the Madrid region.
The day culminated in a session of parallel, small, specific meetings between the organisations attending and the scientific directorates of each of the CCHS-CSIC research institutes, in which they were able to share interests and needs, establishing networks and channels of communication for future collaboration.
Fundación General CSIC, the Madrid Business Confederation-CEOE and the Spanish National Research Council all gave a very positive assessment of the meeting, reaffirming their commitment to this type of activity to bring science and the private sector closer together, fostering public-private collaboration and planning new actions of this type in other research centres. In all the participants’ opinion, these conferences are important not only to extend the transfer of knowledge, but also to diversify it and seek out new fields and new players.
Fundación General CSIC has been organising meetings of this kind for more than six years in different scientific and technical areas, with the aim of generating links between the public and private sectors and thus opening up a dialogue that allows the CSIC’s capabilities to be aligned with the needs of companies, as well as with other national and international research bodies.
The CSIC’s Centre for Human and Social Sciences is made up of six research institutes:
Institute of History (IH)
Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and the Near East (ILC)
Institute of Languagede Lengua, Literatura y Antropología (ILLA)
Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography (IEGD)
Institute of Politics and Public Goods (IPP)
Institute of Philosophy (IFS)
