Medicine and university residence are the two main challenges of the University of Huelva in 2024

The University of Huelva took stock of what has been achieved during 2023 and the challenges that Huelva expects to overcome during 2024 during an interview conducted by Huelva journalist Rafael López in the assembly hall of the Faculty of Nursing. In general terms, as stated by Rector María Antonia Peña, “2023 has been a very good year“, taking into account the difficult phases that lie ahead for the people of Huelva in 2022 and the adversities that have followed in previous years, including COVID-19 and the pandemic, which delayed many projects from moving forward.” Looking to 2024, the launch of the Medicine degree and the opening of the University Residence are planned, which will attract many students to the city.

One of these projects that excites the entire university community and Huelva society in general. This is a new degree in Medicine for the implementation of which very decisive steps have been taken in 2023., In this sense, the Faculty of Nursing will have an important role with this degree, since it will host its development in its formative years. “In addition, there are very interesting potential synergies between the two degrees, which could lead to greater use of facilities or joint research projects,” said the Rector.

As far as academic offerings are concerned, UHU has regained its format own summer coursesIn alliance with the International University of Andalusia, “with whom we have managed to bring a lot of life to the university campus at a time when, after the end of the academic year, there is a low attendance of students.”

But in its new projects the university wants not only new degrees, but also training Check in with larger projects who come to town, as it is The case of green hydrogen or methanol. This way, qualified professionals can be offered for all these emerging sectors. “Because all those projects that are talked about, such as green hydrogen or methanol, are not based on universities as well as on supplying qualified professionals, with university training, with the capacity for innovation, research, a driving workforce Let’s go. , then they are useless,” Peña argued.

Regarding the economic level, in the opinion of the Rector, “the university financing implemented in 2023 sought to create projects not onlybut also stabilizes and promotes the workforce that makes up our teachers and researchers and our technical management, administration and service staff. The spirit of the university is rooted in a commitment to quality which must begin with making its employees feel happy.”

The University of Huelva remains in a very good position in the field of transparency. “It was very difficult because we were in a state of ambiguity. They called us an opaque university. This hurts us and has taken a great effort, which, moreover, is not mine, not even my team’s. This applies to all services, because transparency affects everything, it crosses a lot of data from different services that people have to provide and sometimes even prepare in addition to their daily work . But in the end, we’ve done it well, We are climbing and we have been in the top two transparency rankings for several years. “Being the first in Spain, insists María Antonia.”

It is also worth remembering that UHU received on June 27 International Certification EFQM 300 Seal, A distinction awarded by the Club of Excellence in Management, with which Huelva is recognized for excellent, innovative and sustainable management based on the European EFQM model.

In the student chapter, the creation of the Cliqa Virtual Secretariat system with more than 90 processes and the improvement of the websites of the centres; As well as the management of internships with social security contributions and the preparation of the University to promote employment and entrepreneurship programs has been one of the most important tasks.

In the field of infrastructure, it is worth noting Immediate planning for energy saving measures, achieving a cumulative consumption saving of 14.16%, while also avoiding emissions of 240 tonnes of greenhouse gases. Improvement interventions on the campuses have also continued, especially with regard to the conditioning of outdoor spaces, and works and installations have been carried out for the Agroforestry Teaching Practice Area at the El Carmen campus.

In another order of things, at the regulatory and legislative level, rules of university coexistence law have been developed, which Alternative conflict resolution formulas include The University establishes an up-to-date disciplinary system among members of the community and for the student body. The University Senate has also been renovated, which will reform the University’s statutes during the current year to make them more in line with LOSU.

Challenges of 2024 for the university

Projects that will come up in 2024 also include the opening of the University Residence. This will allow students from outside the city, province and Erasmus to access accommodation. This accommodation also has important construction conditions And backed with European energy efficiency seals. In this, a series of spaces will be created that will provide student privacy as well as meeting spaces such as gyms, swimming pools and other common areas where university sociability and co-working will be encouraged. Peña declared, “La Onubense attaches great importance to this project, which will mark a new reality in university life.”

Similarly, one of the projects for 2024 isUntil the Hedy Lamarr Building is completed, This is a building that was started but not completed. Due to extremely efficient management it has been possible to accomplish this with one’s own savings. This building will be the headquarters of IT and communications services, as well as a data processing centre.

“This will guarantee the continuity of the processes of digitalization and centralization of university information, in the same way it will guarantee better cyber security,” he said. Also in this infrastructure chapter, photovoltaic solar canopies will be installed in the parking lots, which will supply 15% of the energy demand of the El Carmen complex. Without forgetting the recently announced reforestation plan to address the loss of 255 trees left by Hurricane Bernard last October, following scientific criteria and using species appropriate to the local and climatic reality of the city.

Regarding the Rabida campus, which has been of great importance since the origin of Onubense, the Rector has said that there are plans to convert it into a research and knowledge transfer campus. This will reduce crowding at other university places also.

There is another challenge of this 2024 Increase the number of external chairpersons On topics like augmented reality and artificial intelligence. Regarding this, the Rector explains, “Onubens intends to manage it with natural intelligence, that is, to prepare teachers and students to make positive use of it at the teaching and learning level, so that there are better professionals in the field. ” The future”. Similarly, other topics such as mining, social economy, flamenco and finance are also considered.

In the international arena, UHU is committed to the Pioneer Project, which focuses on building a European alliance of universities that will work towards Sustainable Development Goal No. 11: inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities. It is about putting training capacity, research and innovation capacity and the ability to co-create with local ecosystems at the service of achieving the cities of the future. The alliance is coordinated by France’s Gustave Eiffel University and nine other universities from very different European countries are also part of it, including the University of Huelva.

To strengthen the functions for the student organizationThe reason for being a university, This year, the launch of the UHU Alumni Action Plan, an increase in the number and types of scholarships, the preparation of the first LGTBI plan established by Law 4/2023 of 28 February, and the strengthening of teaching innovation, among others.

Finally, in the field of social and university projection, UHU wishes to continue the high level of quality of its cultural programmes, Awarded several times for transforming its publishing service into a university publishing house and incorporating the new provincial headquarters into the Experience Classroom, thus maintaining its extraordinary growth in recent years.