• Institutional Chairs are sponsored by public institutions.
• Corporate Chairs are focused on an area of knowledge related to the business activity being carried out by the sponsoring company. They are usually associated with the name of the company that finances them.
• University Workshops are oriented towards the development of training, dissemination and knowledge transfer acitivities, specifically excluding R+D+I activities. 

The range of activities that can be developed within a Chair is very broad:

• Activities to encourage study:

Awarding of prizes

Student internships in the company or institution

Conferences, seminars and workshops

Encouragement of collaboration and educational cooperation

Collaboration in the design and delivery of lifelong learning programmes

Completion of doctoral theses, final degree projects and master’s degree projects, in cooperation with the company or institution

Scholarships, grants and pre-doctoral and post-doctoral contracts within the Chair

• Cultural and dissemination activities:

Development of works of innovation and the dissemination of science and technology

Organisation of scientific and technological dissemination conferences

Promotion of publications on topics of interest

Organisation of cultural, scientific, technical, social or humanistic dissemination activities

Promotion of scientific, technical and artistic events

• Research and development activities:

Joint development of lines of research and innovation of common interest

Cooperation to participate in national and international projects

Carrying out work of a scientific, technological, humanistic or artistic nature, as well as specific training activities, as established in the Art. 60 of the Organic Law of the University System

Any other activity that is of general interest to students and the university community within the scope of the purpose of the Chair.

The maximum endowment for carrying out the activities referred to in the last point, where applicable, may not exceed 40% of the total contribution of the Chair.

The UV Chairs are based on Law 49/2002 of 23 December, on the Tax Regime for Non-Profit Entities and Tax Incentives for Patronage, which states that the donations regulated by this law are financial or material support provided without direct counterpart by the beneficiary for the exercise of activities of a general interest nature.

The Chairs have an institutional function that goes beyond its concretion in an economic agreement and are the expression of a willingness to collaborate between the UV and one or more entities. Thus, it is important to distinguish this collaboration from the provision of services that may be arranged between the UV and a company or entity.

According to the UV Chairs Regulations, the initiative for the constitution of a patronage or sponsorship through a Chair will be presented by a permanent member of the UV staff, provided that their area of management, teaching and/or research is related to the field of activity of the Chair. In this case, they shall act as a contact person and be in charge of the proposal while the Chair is being formally constituted.

Assistant teaching staff may co-direct a University Chair or Workshop, always under the supervision of a permanent director.

The procedure for the constitution of the Chair is carried out by signing a collaboration agreement between the entity and the Universitat de València.

The agreement by which the UV Chairs are created must be drafted in accordance with the provisions of Chapter V of Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector or the current legislation on the matter. It is therefore an administrative agreement.

At least, it must contain the following aspects: name of the Chair; objectives; activities to be developed; duration of the agreement and mechanisms for renewal and termination; economic endowment with which the Chair will develop its activities; commitment of the parties to disseminate the existence and activities of the Chair; and rules for the use of the UV’s corporate image.

The agreements must have a fixed duration, which may not exceed four years, unless a longer period is provided for in the regulations. At any time before the end of the period foreseen, the signatories of the agreement may unanimously agree to extend it for a period up to four additional years or terminate it.

In the case of publicly funded Chairs, the agreement must also include aspects such as eligible costs, means and period of justification, execution periods, advance payment of the subsidy and method of payment.

The agreement for the constitution of the Chair shall reflect the disinterested nature of the contribution of the collaborating entity. Furthermore, it shall be signed by the Principal of the Universitat de València and the person designated by the collaborating entity with sufficient powers to sign.

Some Institutional Chairs are financed through direct subsidies or nominal lines granted by public administrations in the fulfilment of a public service of interest to the granting administration.

They are nominally planned in the public administration budgets, in which the granted amount is stated. Likewise, the conditions for their constitution are detailed in the terms included in the agreements or resolutions of concession and in the regulations governing these grants. Within the framework of these Chairs, the activities to be carried out must fulfil purposes of public, social, economic or humanitarian interest.

Thus, they are grants which may be renovated annually and whose expenses must be properly justified in due term and form. The activities to be carried out, the eligible costs, the form and deadline for justification, the deadlines for execution (which are usually between the 1 and 31 of each year) and the method of payment, among other aspects, are specified in an administrative agreement signed between the public funding body and the Principal of the UV.

The economic management of Institutional Chairs is similar to that of a competitive project with public funding because it is governed, among other regulations, by the Law 38/2003 of 17 November (General Subsidies Act). Yet, Institutional Chairs have some particularities, such as the obligation to adequately publicise and disseminate the grant and the funding body, the compliance with regulations on transparency and the creation of a monitoring committee which shall supervise the activities committed to under the agreement. In addition, this committee shall meet at least once a year. For the constitution and operation of the UV’s Institutional Chairs, they must comply with the provisions of the UV Chairs Regulations.

For the management, implementation and monitoring of the activities to be carried out by the Chair, at least a Joint Monitoring Committee and a Directorate of the Chair must be appointed, without prejudice to the possibility of appointing other governing bodies, provided that the need is justified and the functions, composition and, where appropriate, the relationship with other bodies are specified.

The Joint Monitoring Committee is the highest governing body of the Chair, and it is responsible for approving its lines of action and budget, as well as monitoring the implementation of the activities of the Chair. It is composed of an equal number of representatives appointed by the UV and the sponsoring entities. Furthermore, the UV representatives shall be appointed by the Office of the Vice-Principal with delegated powers for the management of the UV Chairs or the delegated person.

The Joint Committee shall be constituted within one month of the entry into force of the creation agreement. At this meeting, at least the constitution and proposed appointment of the Chair’s management must be agreed. Where applicable, its annual programme and the annual financial and activities report must be approved too.

The Director of the Chair is responsible for its academic and economic management and execution. They shall act as a link between the institutional representation of the parties having signed the collaboration agreement for the constitution of the Chair.

The Directorate of the Chair shall be appointed by the Principal of the Universitat de València at the proposal of the Joint Committee.

The position of Director of the Chair shall be held for the duration of the agreement, and the proposal for renewal or replacement shall be made by the Joint Monitoring Committee.

In accordance with the UV Chairs Regulations, in order to fulfil the objectives and carry out the activities planned within the framework of the Chair, the collaborating entities must commit to making a minimum financial contribution of 30,000 euros per year. The agreement for the constitution of the Chair must contain the sources of funding and the form and deadlines in which these contributions are to be made.

The minimum contribution necessary for the constitution of a University Workshop is 15,000 euros per year.

Without prejudice to the provisions of Law 49/2002, of 23 December, on the tax regime for non-profit organisations and tax incentives for patronage, or current legislation on the matter, the tax treatment of the contributions of the entities made in accordance with the agreement for the constitution of the Chair must correspond, under current legislation, to the content of the activities to be carried out and the contracts arising from the activities of the Chair.

The ownership of the results obtained within the framework of a Chair shall be defined in the agreement for the constitution of the Chair or by means of specific agreements, in accordance with the regulations in force. If not established, these rights shall belong to the Universitat de València.

In the case of Institutional or Corporate Chairs, and provided that the conditions of the funding entity allow it, a retention of 10% of the income shall be made to compensate the general expenses of the UV. If it is the case, an additional retention shall be made for the bonuses for the Chair directors, according to the regulations of the UV.

For the direction of Institutional and Corporate Chairs, and provided that the conditions of the funding entity allow it, an economic compensation may be obtained for extraordinary work, both for its nature and for the schedule, whose maximum amount may not exceed 10% of the external income obtained during the year of funding of the Chair, up to an annual maximum per Chair of 3000 euros. These bonuses must be requested by the Director of the Chair to the Office of the Vice-Principal with delegated responsibility for Institutional and Corporate Chairs and will be paid with the prior authorisation of the University Head Office. From this bonus, an additional deduction of 10% of the amount of the remuneration requested shall be made, where applicable, in the specific key of the chair.

The employer's contribution will be withheld from the credit available for the remuneration (only in the case of employees in the General Social Security Scheme to whom this contribution is applicable, which will be prorated, in compliance with social security regulations).

The resulting amount will constitute the Remuneration to be included in the payroll, to which the legally applicable personal income tax withholdings and social security contributions payable by the employee will be applied.

For more information, please consult: Payment of allowances: concepts to be taken into account and Diagram of the procedure for the payment of allowances and an examples.