A total of 202 people from 30 countries have defended their thesis during the last year at the University of Navarra. The investiture of the new doctors took place in the Museum of the academic centre. Presided over by the Rector, María Iraburu, the event was attended by Giovanni Valentini, professor at IESE and godfather of the graduating class; and Edward Augusto Vélez Aponte, PhD from School of Theology, who addressed the audience on behalf of the doctors.

The researchers who have obtained the degree scroll come from Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, India, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, United States, Uruguay, Uganda and Venezuela. 

degree scroll During the event, the rector gave a speech at speech under the title "What does the world need research ?", in which she spoke about the role of research in society. "This is not a trivial question. We are at a time of sharp contrasts and paradoxes. There are countries where researchers are seen by large sections of the population as an elite distant from reality," he said.

This status, he added, encourages us to think about what the research is and what place it occupies in society, "because the paradox, in reality, may be more of a warning sign, a manifestation that this noble and hard-working work has lost its way or has become distorted".

The Rector stated that a good research is characterised by "being an expression of love for the truth; being exercised with humility, a humility that is not without hope; appreciating the contribution of other sciences and looking beyond one's own field; and having a vocation of service to society". In this sense, he encouraged doctors to "commit to this human, open, committedresearch " and to define their own "professional convictions", "those ultimate motivations that have to do with the authenticity of the person and which, moreover, leave their mark in the environments of work and in the institutions".

Contributing to progress together

In his address speech, Giovanni Valentini, IESE professor and sponsor of the graduating class, pointed out that in these "hard times", "our duty is to actively contribute to progress, to the improvement of society", and "to do it together", since these years and the pandemic have shown that "there are no small or big things that we can achieve alone".

The professor stressed that in addition to studying at the University of Navarra, there are two aspects that unite the new doctors and that have to do with the scientific method. Firstly, possessing a approach, a scientific perspective, and secondly, being used to working with uncertainty. "We are told that the world is becoming not only more complicated, but also more uncertain. And that is scary. Our competitive advantage is that we are (or should be) used to thinking in terms of uncertainty". The sponsor proposed embracing uncertainty rather than running away from it. "Uncertainty can undermine our convictions, but it also creates opportunities for our growth and that of Economics".

For his part, Edward Augusto Vélez Aponte, doctor at Sacred Theology, expressed his gratitude on behalf of the doctors, a gratitude that is based, in his opinion, on three pillars that have been present during these years of doctoral study: "God as source of all knowledge; the search for truth; and the tribute to our families, because thanks to them we are allowed to receive with such high dignity the doctoral investiture that this illustrious university confers on us", he underlined.