A staff commitment to knowledge

"You are more necessary than ever. If the improvement of society has always depended on this commitment to knowledge, we are at a time when this is an urgent necessity". With these words, the president of the University of Navarra, María Iraburu, addressed those attending the investiture ceremony of the 181 new doctors of the academic center, which took place in the Magna classroom of the Central Building. In her speech, Iraburu praised and thanked them for their dedication to study, which she described as a task not without complexity, "which is what makes research an arduous good, an arduous conquest that enriches us and contributes to give meaning, not only to work, but to life itself," she said.

"You have made a staff commitment to knowledge. All three words are worthy of consideration. Bet, because there is some risk in embarking on a doctoral thesis . staff, because what is at stake is more than dedication of time, it is dedication of the head and the heart, of one's life. And knowledge. This last term is the one that deserves a moment's pause," continued the president. 

Iraburu pointed out that the development of technology, the possibility of applying it to all everyday tasks, is calling into question the way knowledge is accessed and managed in all sectors. "For us, for you, researchers, this fact is, above all, an invitation to reflect on what is specifically human. It is also a responsibility: to ensure that technological advances contribute to the unfolding of each person's potential, without false shortcuts or lazy simplifications that end up alienating. And that they shape the professional spaces in which you work now or will work in the future, so that they gain not only in efficiency, but also in humanity," he added. 

Adorned with the colors of the caps and gowns representing each of the Schools, the Magna classroom of the Central Building brought together doctors from 33 different countries, who have applied their research in multiple fields. 

Among them, Iñigo Barasoain Echepare and Nahia Gómez Echarte. Wearing the brown muceta of the School of Engineering and after years of study, Iñigo Barasoain Echepare celebrated in the Magna classroom the dream he had since he was a child: to be a scientist. His research was in the field of telecommunications and vector processes and was directed by Full Professor Jesús Gutiérrez and Dr. Marta de Zárraga. "Studying the thesis is a hard and demanding process, but it is very satisfying to see how, little by little, what you are researching is advancing," he said. 

When Nahia Gómez Echarte graduated in Biochemistry she saw her professional future working in a laboratory, doing research on cancer. Nahia Gómez defended her thesis on April 2, with words of thanks to her directors, Xabier Aguirre Ena and Edurne San José Enériz. "The thesis is years of stress," she acknowledged, "but it is a beautiful path and those who follow it and achieve it are satisfied. Today is a day to enjoy. In blue, as a doctor from the School of Science, Nahia Gómez recalled with a smile the hours of work in the laboratories of the Cima to study multiple myeloma.

The footprint of research in Navarra: from the black truffle of Olóriz, the metals of wine coloring or the breeding of the barn owl.

In the last 25 years, the University of Navarra has defended more than 160 thesis on a wide range of topics, all of them framed in the region. These include programs of study on mycorrhization in black truffle crops in Olóriz, the analysis of air quality and atmospheric pollutants in urban, rural and indoor environments, and the characterization of compounds such as ochratoxin A in foodstuffs. The metals that influence wine coloration were also investigated. In wildlife, the effects of habitat fragmentation by infrastructures on animal mortality and road safety were addressed. 

In agricultural biodiversity, arthropods in tomato crops and mites with forensic applications were documented. Ethnobotany played a relevant role with programs of study on traditional medicinal plants and their possible biological activity. In addition, the effects of Mediterranean per diem expenses on health were analyzed in the framework of the SUN project , and rodent ectoparasites and their relationship with cranial deformities were studied. In ornithology, the ecology of the kingfisher, the reproduction of the red-backed shrike and the captive breeding of the barn owl were investigated.