Henkel-UAB linkup awarded Catalonia's National Research Prize for public-private partnerships

The partnership between Henkel and the UAB has been awarded one of the 2012 National Research Prizes. The award ceremony took place on 18 March at the National Theatre of Catalonia.

18/03/2013

The award ceremony for the 2012 National Research Prizes was held on 18 March, at the National Theatre of Catalonia in Barcelona. Presiding over the ceremony was Mr Artur Mas, President of the Government of Catalonia, and the ceremony also included a concert by the pianist and composer Albert Guinovart.

The Government and the Catalan Research Foundation (FCRI) announced last November that the winners of the National Research Prize in the category of public and private sector partnerships, without endowment, were the Henkel company, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Catalan Institute of Chemistry Research (ICIQ).

The German group Henkel stands out for its clear strategy of collaboration with the public sector, involving over 250 universities and research centres, with over 1,500 projects for product improvement and R+D, 7,000 patents and 2,000 registered designs. In Catalonia there are two examples of this strategy: The Henkel-ICIQ partnership, which develops high-performing adhesives through innovative curing reactions, and Henkel's R+D+I and Advanced Technologies Laboratory at the UAB Research Park (PRUAB).

This laboratory, opened in 2010, and taking up 240 square metres of the PRUAB's Eureka Building, is a multidisciplinary facility that carries out research in chemistry, materials science and adhesives development and testing. This initiative is a good example of how industry and universities can work together to link up research and industrial production, and thus contribute to economic recovery.

Henkel has recently announced that it is investing 7 million euros on expanding its research team in Catalonia, with three new R+D laboratories working on adhesives and industrial sealants to be opened in 2013, which will create 55 new jobs in the first phase.

The National Research Prizes, awarded by the Catalan Research Foundation with the support of the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), aim to increase society's support for science and the activities of researchers, patrons and sponsors, business owners, and communicators.

In this second edition, the jury was made up of the researchers Albert Balcells, Salvador Barberà, Miguel Beato, Jordi Isern, Ramon Pascual and Joan Rodés, the politicians Antoni Castellà and Josep M. Martorell, of the Generalitat's Secretariat for Universities and Research, and Enric Claverol, head of the FCRI.

For more information on the prizes:
Press release from the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat)