2015_11_23_ICSvalorarte
"Returns on research are only achieved through excellence."
The Vice President of research, Iciar Astiasarán, spoke at the opening of the V ICS annual meeting , which was attended by 85 researchers, collaborators, doctoral students and professionals.
"Researchers must obtain returns and this is only possible with excellence: competitive projects are obtained when what is presented is very good". This is what Iciar Astiasarán, Vice President of research of the University of Navarra, said during the opening of the V annual meeting of Institute for Culture and Society. The event was attended by 85 people, including researchers, collaborators, doctoral students and professionals.
From agreement with the Vice President, the research is nowadays a challenge: "There is a lot of competition and it is difficult to become an international reference in a line of research. For this reason, researchers must set ambitious goals, within the limits of the ethics and values we defend at the University, and work to achieve them".
The opening of the V annual meeting was also attended by Jaime García del Barrio, director general of the ICS, and Ana Marta González, scientific coordinator of the center.
Jaime García del Barrio highlighted some of the most relevant results of the past year: in terms of publications, 74 scientific articles in first quartile journals and 16 books in the most prestigious international publishing houses in the academic world; and in terms of scientific activities, 129 seminars at research and 11 international congresses and workshops.
The director of the ICS emphasized some of the immediate priorities of the ICS, among which are maintaining scientific quality, establishing alliances with prestigious international centers and working on the transfer of knowledge to society.
Likewise, another of the challenges he identified concerns competitive funding. The director emphasized that the center has consolidated the culture of presentation to national and international calls and that the next step is to "achieve a greater success rate" that will allow the growth of the ICS to be boosted.
For her part, Ana Marta González reflected in her intervention on the topic of the V meeting, 'challenge and internship of the multidisciplinarity'. Professor González pointed out that "the multidisciplinarity is one of the defining notes of the ICS and also a permanent challenge in our research projects".
"The multidisciplinarity - he added - presents particular profiles in the field of the Humanities precisely because these disciplines require a more synthetic than analytical mentality, oriented more to the understanding of meaning than to the explanation of causes; a mentality, therefore, that rests more on the intellectual habits of the interlocutors than on the objectified exhibition of the problems."
Ana Marta González highlighted the value of the arts and Humanities: "They each develop the human spirit in their own way; it is in this, and not in an ulterior product that could be derived from them, that their importance lies. The Humanities and the arts educate, broaden the soul, which is possibly the most important thing we human beings can do; help us to live as human beings".
roundtable of architects and discussion paper by Cristina PatoA roundtable with architect Julio Clúa and architect and artist Fernando Pagola was also held at meeting . They explained the project remodeling of the new headquarters and how the new facilities will contribute to promote the multidisciplinarity among researchers, through open spaces, places for formal and informal meetings...
On the other hand, different workshops were organized in which ICS members - researchers, collaborators, staff administration... - reflected on the multidisciplinarity. Afterwards, each group presented their conclusions.
The workshop closed with the discussion paper keynote, 'Transcending Disciplines: The 21st Century Sustainable Artist', which was presented at position by bagpiper, pianist and composer Cristina Pato, who holds a PhD in Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from Rutgers University. Cristina is a member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble and a founding member of its Leadership Council, collaborating closely on tours and planning residencies, including the multi-year association between the Silk Road Project and Harvard University.