The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), through its Office of Transfer and Institutional Actions (OTAI), has taken part in the IV Technical Conference of the Canarian Knowledge Transfer Offices (OTCs) and European Project Offices (OPEs) that took place this Friday at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).

The meeting addressed how to promote the transfer of knowledge from universities and public research centres in the Canary Islands to the productive fabric and society.

The opening of the conference was attended by Migdalia Machín, Councillor for Universities, Science, Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands; Lluís Serra, Rector of the ULPGC; Sebastián López, Vice-Rector for Research and Transfer of the ULPGC; Antonio Aparicio, Vice-Rector for Research and Transfer of the ULL; and Eva Villaver, Deputy Director of the IAC. 

The inaugural speech was given by Elisa Rivera Mendoza, who holds the position of Director General of Planning, Coordination and Knowledge Transfer of the Ministry of Universities; Rivera Mendoza's speech, entitled ‘Transfer policy in Spain: priorities and roadmap’, will serve as an approach to the strategic framework of transfer policies at national level.

The conference also included a round table discussion on ‘The future of research and knowledge transfer in the Canary Islands: keys and recipes’, a space in which to generate proposals based on the challenges facing the Canary Islands in this area, with the participation of Anselmo Sosa, the manager of the IAC's Office of Transfer and Institutional Actions.

This conference is part of the European project EXPER (Excellent Peripheries for a Strong European Research Area) and aims to become a meeting point for dialogue, exchange and strengthening of knowledge transfer mechanisms and the promotion of research excellence in peripheral regions.