History of UAB Sphere
The concept of UAB Sphere can be found in the UAB Master Plan 2002-2006. In the research section, the UAB Sphere is mentioned as a powerful scientific and technological pole and nerve center for the generation and transfer of knowledge, formed by the University and the various research centers located on the campus and those participated in and associated with UAB. In the plan, the aim was to increase the synergies within the campus, strengthening the networks derived from the already consolidated activities. It also pursued the definition of thematic areas in terms of designing innovative strategic actions, as well as projecting the research activity of the University towards the social and economic environment.
In 2007, with UAB as the promoter, in collaboration with IRTA and CSIC, the UAB Research Park was founded to facilitate the interaction between research, business and society. The PRUAB provides services to all the institutes and departments of the University and coordinates support actions with the research centers of the sphere, constituting a fundamental axis for the promotion of innovation in the economic and social environment.
In 2009, the Campus of International Excellence (CIE) grant "Promoting Knowledge, Encouraging Innovation" made it possible to implement the strategy envisaged by the University. At the same time, the European Union promoted the policies of the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3), in which the university-territory aggregations and the quadruple helix constituted essential tools to enable the increase of the competitiveness of the European regions, offering UAB an ideal conceptual framework for the development of the UAB Sphere.
Beyond the implementation of the planned actions, the UAB-CIE project contributed to the generation of transformative policies, to the promotion of multi-institutional projects framed in a strategic network, with new cluster models and alliances, and to the start of an in-depth reflection on the development of knowledge and innovation ecosystems.
The evolution of the UAB-CIE Campus of Excellence project gave rise to the concept of the UAB-CEI Sphere, which can be interpreted as a partnership in which the University plays a central role.
Despite the discontinuity of the CIE, the continuous and solid cooperation between UAB and the Centers of the Sphere has produced remarkable results, which are reflected in a progressive improvement of the research and transfer indicators of our University.