The Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), belonging to the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC), will build a new research center in Gandia that will take advantage of the successful 13-year long track record of the Joint Unit in Technology for Marine Studies (UTEM), made up of the IEO and Campus Gandia of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).
This announcement was made by the acting Minister of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain, Diana Morant, who detailed that construction is expected to start in 2024, in the hopes that it will be operational in 2025. She further specified that this center will have a cost of 16 million euros and will involve the incorporation of 50 new people including research, technical and administrative staff.
Morant announced this news to the Joint Research Unit, composed of the IEO and the UPV, during her visit to the Gandia facilities. The minister indicated out that this center “will take advantage of the entire record of success of the Joint Technology Unit for Marine Studies between the Spanish Institute of Oceanography and the Universitat Politècnica de València, which has been carrying out its work in Gandia for 13 years and is oldest of the IEO-CSIC in Spain.”
Statements by Diana Morant, Minister of Science and Innovation, to Cadena Ser.
Morant was accompanied on her visit by the Mayor of Gandia, José Manuel Prieto; the Government Delegate, Pilar Bernabé; the President of the CSIC, Eloísa del Pino; the Vice-Rector of Students and Entrepreneurship of the UPV, Alberto Conejero; the Director of Campus Gandia of the UPV, Jesus Alba; and the Director of the IEO-CSIC, Javier Ruiz; among other authorities.
The mayor has also highlighted that the announcement positions Gandia as a “leader in research at the national level” while also transforming the port.
Statements by Jose Manuel Prieto, Mayor of Gandia, to Cadena Ser.
Currently, there are 9 IEO centers throughout Spain working in a network, and this new project will become the first in the Valencian Community.
New period
As soon as the announcement was made, the Rector of the UPV, José E. Capilla, indicated that “the upcoming establishment of the IEO headquarters in Gandia represents a boost to science in the Valencian Community and a recognition of the fruitful activity of the UPV-IEO mixed unit over the span of thirteen years. It’s the launch of a new period for Campus Gandia, as it will strengthen education, research and innovation in the field of Marine Sciences and Oceanography, in which the UPV has a significant and excellent group of professors.”
Multiplying research capacity
For his part, the Director of Campus Gandia, Jesús Alba, highlighted that this announcement substantiates the “great job” done by the Campus over the years, and pointed out that with this project it would be possible to “multiply its research capacity.” Alba added that this is “great news for Gandia, for La Safor, for the UPV, for the IEO, but above all for children who will see the increased protection of the seas and oceans that they’re going to inherit.”
Facilities dedicated to marine research
In March 2022, the UPV and the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) signed an agreement for the university to occupy Fruit Sheds 6, 7 and 8. This site, with an area of over 900 m², will permit the expansion and improvement of the university facilities dedicated to marine research, which is currently immersed in the formalities for the execution of the project to refurbish the new sites.
Likewise, these facilities constitute the headquarters of the Joint Research Unit in Technology for Marine Studies. The headquarters began its activity in 2010 with the aim of leveraging the synergies that arose from the research interests of the IEO and the technological capabilities of the UPV groups. Joint projects and actions are being carried out there it with the aim of promoting oceanography, the marine environment and the efficient and sustainable use of fishing and aquaculture resources.
Source: Office of Communications of the Universitat Politècnica de València