The commemorative events have taken place within the framework of European projects, conferences and coexistence activities of the different units integrated in the institute, both from the UV and from other institutions. Among these events, on September 9, Jorge Garcés, director of POLIBIENESTAR, was appointed doctor honoris causa by the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

In these ten years, the Institute has become a benchmark in Social Science research, especially in the study and transfer of European welfare public policies. It is thus at the forefront of international research where technical science teams collaborate interdisciplinarily with social science teams. The result is hundreds of reports, policy recommendations, books and academic articles, with a very powerful contribution to the scientific community and society through platforms, standards, indicators, apps and algorithmic applications.

Since 2011, POLIBIENESTAR has been coordinating European projects with funding that has reached more than 55 million euros, achieved through some 107 projects attached to the institute. 61 researchers from eleven departments of the UV, that are integrated into research groups such as LabPsiTec, InnoMark or ScienceFlows, in collaboration with the UCC+i of the UV, work daily at the Institute.

The POLIBIENESTAR Spain research team has more than 120 experts, since, together with the UV team, researchers from other institutions also collaborate, which are part of the associated units: Jaume I University of Castelló, University of Burgos , University of Castilla-La Mancha, University of Murcia, University of Extremadura, Polytechnic University of Madrid, University of the Basque Country, Polytechnic University of Valencia, University of Concepción in Chile, University of Guelph in Canada and Autonomous University of Encarnación in Paraguay.

According to Jorge Garcés, “we have consolidated a mix between Social Sciences and Technical Sciences without losing rigor or independence; we identify ourselves as a forum for thought and creativity, where we collaboratively investigate professionals in social work, sociology, mathematics, pedagogy, engineering, psychology, economics, medicine, architecture, journalism, law and political science. We enjoy the pleasure of learning, discussing and arguing in research from a kaleidoscopic perspective, training the future generation of researchers”.

Polibienestar is a public institute belonging to the University of Valencia, whose mission is to improve social welfare and the quality of life of society, through interdisciplinary and socio-technical research. Its director, Jorge Garcés-Ferrer, is a Full Professor of Social Policy at the University of Valencia and Prince of Asturias Full Professor at Georgetown University (Washington DC, USA).

Annex photo caption:

• Researchers of the Interuniversity Institute of Social Welfare Policies (POLIBIENESTAR).