The principal of the University of Valencia, Esteban Morcillo, and the managing director of Biópolis SL, Daniel Ramón, have signed the renewal of the agreement which aims to sponsor the participation of Valencia/Biocampus team of the University of Valencia in the synthetic biology international competition iGEM organized by the MIT in Boston.
The iGEM is the most important synthetic biology competition for undergraduate students in which more than 240 teams from around the world participate. The team from the University of Valencia, Valencia/Biocampus, got the gold medal in the European phase of the 2013 edition held in Lyon, and at the final in Boston the award for the Best New Application in Biotechnology, competing with universities as Standford, Ottawa, Hong Kong or the polytechnic universities of Lausanne and Eindhoven. Valencia/Biocampus received emphatic greetings from the iGEM judges, the General Secretary of Universities of the Government of Spain, Federico Morán, and the President of the Valencian Government, Alberto Fabra, among others.
For Daniel Ramón, managing director of Biópolis, involving the University of Valencia in the iGEM contest is one of the most innovative and successful actions that an academic institution can do to train a new generation of Valencian scientists and technologists. Biópolis SL is a biotechnology company located in the Science Park of the University of Valencia that provides research, development and production services for the agricultural, pharmaceutical, chemicals and energy sectors, as well as public research centres. It was founded in 2003 as a spin -off of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) together with three industrial partners, CAPSA (Corporación Alimentaria Peñasanta), the venture capital group Talde and Naturex Spain SA.
The principal of the University of Valencia, Esteban Morcillo, was delighted by the renewal of this agreement and encourages Valencian companies to follow the lead held by Biópolis, and work together on these priorities for the University of Valencia in promoting scientific vocations and supporting the Valencian young talents.
The Valencia/Biocampus team consists of students from biotechnology, biochemistry, law and industrial engineering, supervised by a team of twenty scientists and Doctoral Studies students. The project is led, among others, by Manuel Porcar and Juli Peretó, researchers of the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology of the University of Valencia, and also tutored by scientists of Biópolis.
The Valencia/Biocampus project also has the support of Sustainable Campus, the Office of Policy Excellence, the Delegate for Students, the Chair for Scientific Dissemination UCC+i, the Principal Peset Hall of Residence, the General Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the University of Valencia.
The Vice-Principal for Sustainability and Planning, Clara Martinez, who took institutional representation in the finals of Boston, is firmly convinced that we must promote this line of action as a programme of excellence in teaching and as an act of social responsibility of the Universitat of Valencia with respect to Valencian society. “It was impressive to see live in Boston, all the effort and excellence of our students defending their awarded project. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of this competition, and so far, Valencia/Biocampus listed as the only Spanish team involved. Just for the record of success we have in this competition and the work developed by students, the researchers and companies that support this project, as Biópolis, we can ensure that we are already in the world elite of synthetic biology” Clara Martinez says.
Last update: 17 de april de 2014 14:14.
News release
