Testimonials

Llegué a INGENIO gracias al programa de Garantía Juvenil y al CSIC, que me ofrecieron la oportunidad de conocer el mundo de la investigación. Mi primer día será difícil de olvidar por la cantidad de lluvia que cayó en una sola mañana, pero desde ese momento me di cuenta de la amabilidad y dulzura de la gente de allí.

Ha sido una experiencia muy bonita la que he vivido y que espero en un futuro poder repetir. He aprendido mucho tanto profesional como personalmente y me he sentido como una más dentro del gran equipo de INGENIO.

Agradezco muchísimo a todos los que me han ayudado a crecer en esta etapa profesional y me llevo muchos recuerdos bonitos de esta gran familia.

No ha sido la despedida que me hubiera gustado por culpa de los tiempos difíciles que estamos viviendo con la pandemia del covid-19, pero seguro que nos volveremos a reunir cuando todo esto pase y podremos celebrar todas las cosas pendientes.

He tenido el placer de trabajar para Ingenio junto a un equipo de profesionales donde, en primer lugar, cabe destacar la calidad humana y el trato recibido, que ha superado cualquier expectativa. Durante unos meses se me ha brindado la oportunidad de formar parte del proyecto SysMa, así como de participar en varios talleres, conocer otros proyectos y grandes profesionales, de los que me llevo un continuo aprendizaje y el compromiso con la investigación colaborativa, promoviendo una cultura de responsabilidad y sostenibilidad en ella. También, agradecer a todo el equipo con el que he trabajado y, en especial, a Guillermo Palau Salvador y José Manuel Martín Corvillo por darme la oportunidad de formar parte de él.

Durante unos meses he tenido el placer de trabajar para el instituto Ingenio junto al resto de personal para el proyecto SysMa, con el objetivo de ayudar mediante diferentes herramientas a aumentar la resiliencia de diferentes regiones frente al cambio climático. Durante este tiempo, que ha sido breve, he podido conocer investigadores en diferentes áreas y con diferentes realidades pero con un enorme compromiso tanto con la institución como con el impacto que pueden llegar a generar en la sociedad. Así pues, este trabajo tan efectivo de equipos interdisciplinares ha sido un gran aprendizaje.
Por último, querría agradecer al equipo Ingenio las facilidades en todo momento y en especial a Guillermo Palau Salvador y a José Manuel Martín Corvillo por las facilidades para adaptarme y trabajar con ellos durante esta estancia.

My research stay at Ingenio has been one of the most productive period in my professional career. It has been an exciting and touching time. I have learned a lot and I have felt part of a leading research centre in its field in Spain. I thank from the heart all those who have helped me, I will take with me memories of good people.

Puede que mi paso por INGENIO haya sido poco común: algo rápido y en temporada baja académica, en verano. Sin embargo, eso no ha impedido que la experiencia haya sido enriquecedora para mi formación como investigador. He aprendido mucho trabajando con mi director de la beca JAE Intro, Joaquín Azagra, que me ha aportado nociones metodológicas de las que carecía. Pero puedo decir que también he aprendido de todo el entorno de INGENIO. Sin duda, el clima de cordialidad y amabilidad que he percibido en este centro es beneficioso para el intercambio de conocimiento y también es saludable. Aprovecho este espacio para agradecer a las personas de INGENIO el buen trato que me han dado y todo lo que me han enseñado sobre la carrera y la comunidad científicas. Espero volver de visita.

I had been at INGENIO [CSIC-UPV] in the period of Jan 2015- April 2019. Personally, I think the process of doctoral studies is experienced in solo; however, during my years of studies at INGENIO, I found a friendly atmosphere in general. I thank the kind consideration received at my arrival from Antonio Gutiérrez Gracia, as director of the institute at that moment, and Isabel Piqueras Pardo in the administrative area; also to Ma. Jesús Dura Mañez as a general assistant for her warmth, unique, kind and immediate support. The library and IT services are excellent, particularly regarding problem-solving and support, Juanjo Perez Abril and Ester Planells Aleixandre, I would rank them as the dream team of the institute. In my opinion, in INGENIO there is always an opportunity to meet interesting people in whom you can find diverse and enriching conversations. Particularly, during lunch time and coffee breaks, where I found many chances to exchange ideas, interesting talks and develop valuable conversations. And last but not least, I have a special thanks to my first year of the "call for drinks", whose aim was to bring together the institute colleagues in a rather informal but amusing place, initially led by Davide Consoli and Richard Woolley, whom I express also my gratitude for the initiative and good times I had with colleagues gathered at all those events. Finally, to the fellow researchers and PhD students who still have some road ahead, I wish you all the best of success at INGENIO, I could say all you are the stars that also make the institute shine.

I came to Ingenio for the first time last year, during the PhD days. There, I discovered a very active, young and captivating research environment, where everybody tried, with success, to make people coming from other institutes feel at home. Mindful of that experience, I decided to come back in Ingenio for a visiting period of three months. I am very grateful for the warm hospitality I received from every single member of Ingenio. It took me just a few days to feel the sense of belonging that characterizes the Ingenio community, also favoured by the organization of leisure activities outside work time. These events allow to both forge closer friendship relations and find a common research ground to collaborate among people coming from very different nationalities, experiences and backgrounds. Of course, being located within the wonderful frame of Valencia is of great help, too. It was a very positive experience for me, in all of its aspects, that I will hardly forget.

Llegué a INGENIO con la idea de aprender e investigar sobre innovación en patrimonio cultural e innovación social con Elena Castro Martínez, temas en los que ella es una gran especialista, para posteriormente aplicar los conocimientos al ámbito de la Educación en el que trabajo en la Universitat de València. Inicialmente tenía prevista una estancia de mes y medio. Sin embargo, a medida que iba profundizando en los temas y conociendo a las personas que trabajan en INGENIO, solicité una prórroga que ha durado hasta seis meses y medio. Y seguiría si pudiera. Sin duda, esta estancia en INGENIO ha sido muy enriquecedora tanto profesional como personalmente. He podido tener acceso a la bibliografía más actualizada, asistir a interesantísimos y ejemplares seminarios científicos, a conferencias sobre divulgación de la ciencia, a congresos organizados en la Universitat Politècnica, a un curso MOOC sobre investigación, conversar con diferentes investigadores y empezar a colaborar con Adela García Aracil, especialista en Economía de la Educación, en diferentes proyectos, entre ellos los educativos sobre ciencia del CSIC.

Durante los meses de Junio y Julio he tenido el placer de compartir el lugar de trabajo con los investigadores del Instituto Ingenio y su personal de apoyo. Fue mucho lo que aprendí de ellos, sobre todo en lo que a interdisciplinariedad se refiere, y ciertamente la estancia de dos meses me resultó breve. También disfruté de los seminarios de especialización que periódicamente organizan, muestra de la vitalidad de la institución, pudiendo participar en ellos y brindándome la oportunidad de conocer a investigadores extranjeros que de otra manera jamás habría conocido. Aunque la lejanía de mi campo de estudio respecto a los que desarrollan los investigadores de Ingenio pudiera parecer una desventaja, fue una virtud, porque me permitió conocer realidades muy diferentes, encontrar puntos de conexión, aprender nuevas metodologías y ganar ideas innovadoras. Por último, quisiera agradecer al director del instituto, Jordi Molas, la oportunidad que me brindó y a Mª Luz López Terrada su atenta guía y supervisión.

First of all, I want to thank Dr Ismael Ràfols to extended to me a kind offer to spend time at INGENIO in Valencia as a guest researcher. Last spring, when I presented my research to the group, I received priceless feedback and my research took steps forward in different ways with the formal and informal chats that I held with many people at INGENIO. It was a wonderful opportunity to boost my research. I spend a really nice time at INGENIO professionally and personally. Thank’s a lot, INGENIO

I arrived at INGENIO for the first time for a Ph.D stay from September 2013 to January 2014 under the supervision of Jordi Molas-Gallart for my thesis entitled “Naval Defense Industry and Technological Innovation: a study of the system of military naval innovation in Brazil”. In this institute I was able to coexist with experienced and always willing to collaborate researchers, attend seminars and thesis defenses of the most varied topics related to innovation. I emphasize that all of INGENIO's staff, from management to technical and administrative support, always offered me all the necessary infrastructure and support, so that my concern was totally focused on studies. The experience was so valid that I returned to the conclusion of my doctoral thesis in 2015, and recently, in the period from March to August 2016 for a postdoctoral stay, again under the supervision of Jordi Molas-Gallart, whose result was the elaboration of a discussion paper entitled "Naval defense industry and technological innovation: a study of the Spanish lessons in terms of industrial defense policy - contributions to Brazil". Besides the wonderful professional experience, I was also able to enjoy the city of Valencia, which is beautiful, with a pleasant climate and excellent infrastructure. Thank you very much INGENIO for the opportunity!

He tenido la honra de estar durante 3 meses realizando mi investigación en el Instituto Ingenio. La convivencia con especialistas,de reconocimiento internacional del Instituto, sobre sistemas de innovación, ha sido una experiencia enriquecedora. Me ha sorprendido la diversidad de conocimientos que atraviesan esta Institución, la cual representa un importante activo técnico-científico que contribuye con la reflexión-acción de la innovación, especialmente en España. La generosa dedicación de los profesores Ignacio Fernández de Lucio y Antonio Gutiérrez en contactarme con los representantes de los entornos de la innovación de la Comunidad Valenciana. Esto me ha propiciado una excelente noción del proceso histórico vivenciado, a partir de la década de los 80, su evolución, y la situación actual de desarrollo. He vivenciado el potencial y fortalezas existentes en los diversos entornos para hacer frente a los nuevos retos que la innovación impone a Europa y en especial a España y su Comunidad Valenciana. Agradezco la dedicación de los profesores Elena Castro Martínez y Pedro Ferreira Marques durante las entrevistas y contactos establecidos. Mis agredecimientos a todo el equipo de Apoyo del Instituto, a los demas profesores, con los que conviví, y a los estudiantes de doctorado. Finalmante un especial agradecimiento al Director del Instituto Ingenio, Profesor Jordi Molas-Gallart, por la invitación y atenciones. Tengo una nueva casa en España. Gracias!

Within my PhD at the University of Brussel (VUB), I had the opportunity to spend three months at INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) as a PhD visiting researcher. I was warmly welcomed by everyone and experienced an inviting working environment with people from both different nationalities and rich and diverse knowledge, experiences and backgrounds. This combination offered me the possibility to receive a lot of valuable feedback that led to a good scientific progress in my work. Despite the fruitful individual, scientific talks with other researchers, I used the “INGENIO seminar”, in order to present my research, which was followed by a rich discussion with various helpful comments, recommendation and feedback. But INGENIO is not only a unique institute with regard to science, people are very inclusive and friendly and, take care of the integration of external visitors. Additionally, regular activities outside the working environment strengthen the social ties among the people and make it easy for externals to feel at home and to enjoy the Spanish culture.

   His stay in INGENIO is a Short Term Scientific Missions STSM) under COST action (ENRESSH)
   (https://enressh.eu/stsm/)

The experience at INGENIO was challenging, motivating and inspiring. Challenging, because the Analitic Network Process Model, that was the reason of my research stay, was supposed to be ready in three months, and that was only posible thanks to the support of PhD Rocío Poveda Bautista. I really appreciate her pacience and commitment, thanks a lot for her support. This model, focused on the approval factor for research projects, is crucial for the development of my doctoral thesis entitled: "Capacity building based on the strategic management of research projects". Motivating, because all of the wonderful people I met. At INGENIO all of the people are willing to collaborate and share their knowledge selflessly. Thanks to PhD Mónica García Melón, Phd Paula Otero Hermida, PhD Student Nadia Ahmadouche and Phd Student Monique Leivas Vargas, just to mention some of the great people from INGENIO. Inspiring, because the way everybody works makes me feel it is posible to get the best results enjoying what you are doing. INGENIO is a great place in which everybody, from Professors and PhD Students to technical and administrative support, is ready to help and give proper feedback. And finally, I would like to say that the city of Valencia with its welcoming citizens and beautiful sifghtsides was the best choice for my research stay. Thanks a lot, INGENIO.

Ingeniera Industrial, Magister en Ingeniería Industrial.  Doctoranda en Administración de Empresas en calidad de Becaria COLCIENCIAS – UNINORTE, en la Universidad del Norte Barranquilla-Colombia.   Realiza su pasantía de Investigación sobre el trabajo denominado:   Relaciones Universidad Empresa en contextos de baja capacidad de absorción:   Un análisis de sus determinantes y efectos sobre las misiones universitarias bajo la tutoría del PhD.  Jaider Vega Jurado.
Con experiencia en Universidades Públicas y Privadas  en temas de innovación, emprendimiento y género; e interés en temas asociados a Relaciones Universidad – Empresa, transferencia de conocimiento y spin off.

Cédric Gossart obtained his PhD from the University of Sussex (SPRU-Science and Technology Policy Studies). He is currently an associate professor in the Institut Mines-Telecom (Telecom Business School).
His is the co-animator of the research network « TIC & Environnement » of the Institut Mines-Télécom (RT8). He is a member of the research group KIND (Knowledge, Innovation and Network Dynamics).

http://gossart.wp.mines-telecom.fr 

Müge Ozman obtained her PhD in Economics from the Masstricht University. She is currently professor in the Institut Mines-Telecom (Telecom Business School).

Considero que Ingenio es un excelente instituto de investigación, en el que los estudiantes de doctorado se pueden nutrir de su intensa vida académica y cultural. Allí realicé una pasantía doctoral financiada por EU-SPRI. Tanto los investigadores como el personal administrativo me prestaron toda la ayuda necesaria para culminar exitosamente mi pasantía. Mis logros más significativos fueron la escritura de dos artículos de investigación y la preparación de mi defensa de tesis doctoral en SPRU - Universidad de Sussex, Inglaterra. Me llevo un gran recuerdo de Ingenio y Valencia, donde conocí personas valiosas que espero volver a ver.

I am driven by an intense curiousity about how innovation processes work. Further, I strongly believe that science has a task to share its knowledge with society.

I have been employed at Utrecht University since 2005, in 2010 I received my PhD. The topic was information use by consumers when searching for information about new innovation. In addition, in 2008 and 2009 I was a guest researcher at Monash University, Melbourne. Currently, I work as an assistant professor innovation studies. I am primarily interested in behavioral aspects related to innovation.

My research focusses on two areas:

1. University-industry interaction (especially start-ups)
2. Acceptance of innovations by citizens or consumers

Methods I often apply are questionaires, discrete choice experiments, social network analysis and serious games. From 2013 onward, I will work on research supported by an NWO veni-grant. The topic is the emergence of collaboration between scientists and entrepreneurs in the clean-tech sector. I am also involved in the surpervision of several externally funded PhDs and junior researchers:

• Larrisa Shnayder (NWO): Corporate social responsibility within the food sector (per 1-9-2011)
• Colin Bos (NWO): Responsible food intake by consumers (per 1-9-2011, works at WUR)
• Allard van Mossel (Climate KIC): Tipping points in organizational eco-systems (per 1-9-2011)
• Kevin Broecks (CATO-2): Arguments, communication and the storage of CO2 (per 1-2-2012)
• Marijn van Weele (Climate KIC): An international comparisson of incubators (per 1-11-2012)
• Chris Eveleens (Climate KIC): Networks, incubators and start-up performance (per 7-10-2013)

Personally, I conduct research financed by Climate KIC, CATO-2, NWO and NL Agency. Empirical domains I study are CO2-storage, sustainable cars, food, energy-neutral buildings, smart-grids, energy technologies, websites and consumers electronics.

My most important task with regard to teaching is coordinating the master Science and Innovation Management. This research oriented master studies innovation processes from a systemic perspective. Graduates contribute with their knowledge to the build-up of a knowledge economy. Further, I organize a summer school for PhD students.

I have great memories from my PhD period at INGENIO. I arrived at INGENIO in 2010 with a JAE-Predoc grant but little experience in academia.  From the beginning, I got involved in the dynamics of the institute, having the chance to attend a number of conferences and workhops, which were extremely important to get into the scientific community and moving forward my dissertation. For instance, during my 2nd year I presented my PhD proposal at the DRUID academy conference in Denmark.  A distinguishing  feature of INGENIO lays in its multidisciplinarity of approaches and methods. INGENIO's academic, technical and administrative staff made a great difference in guiding my throughout the arduous but exciting process of writing and defending a PhD. INGENIO is also characterized by its international scope and its support to international exchanges. For instance, INGENIO helped me in being a visiting researcher at the Copenhagen Business School and at the University of Pisa, which helped me to develop my academic skills and collaborate with renowned scholars. Since 2014, I am a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Bordeaux, where I still maintain a close collaboration with INGENIO.

Julia Planko works as researcher and lecturer at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.

As lecturer in the ‘International Business Management Studies’ program, she teaches the following subjects: Business Ethics, Sustainable Innovative Marketing, Economics and Marketing. Furthermore, she is the HU responsible for the innovative collaborative minor ‘Circular Economy’. This minor had been designed based on advice from the Ellen McArthur foundation. Students of this minor consult companies how to make the transition towards the Circular Economy business models, after acquiring theoretical knowledge on the Circular Economy concept.

As researcher, Julia is part of the HU research group ‘Cooperative Entrepreneurship’. Her research is focused on strategic collaboration of companies which implement sustainability innovations. The implementation of innovative sustainability technologies often requires far reaching changes of the macro environment in which the innovating firms operate. Firms who want to commercialize an innovative technology can collaborate in networks or industry clusters to build up a favorable environment for their technology. This increases the chances of successful diffusion and adoption of the technology in society. Julia researches on how firms can collaborate to strategically build up this supportive external environment.

She conducts this research as PhD Candidate at Utrecht University, where she is part of the Innovation Studies group at the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development.  She is supervised by Prof. Marko Hekkert and Prof. Jacqueline Cramer, director of the Utrecht Sustainability Institute.

Furthermore, Julia is passionate about the integration of Sustainable Development and Circular Economy principles into Business Management education. She believes that businesses can and should be the drivers of sustainable development. Therefore, the education of business students as future business leaders plays a crucial role for sustainable development. To inspire students beyond the classroom to strive for sustainable development, she initiated the ‘HU Sustainability Club’, an association for students interested in sustainability.

I had an intellectually stimulating time at INGENIO. The researchers and PhD students are cordial and willing to share knowledge. They are pretty active and committed with academic work. It was a great experience!

INGENIO is gaining a fine international reputation as one of the best interdisciplinary research centres in innovation-related topics. Since it was founded, it has attracted talented researchers, post-docs and graduate students from around the world. The research quality at INGENIO is extremely high, and the nice and friendly work environment is a bonus! I was lucky enough to spend almost two years in the institute as Marie Curie grant holder. What I learnt at INGENIO has greatly benefited me in the following steps of my career. I would recommend a research period (as a PhD, post-doc or visiting researcher) at INGENIO for anyone who would like to boost his/her own career.

When I arrived at INGENIO, I was just a recently graduated in Economics that, after a very short experience in the private industry, started a PhD about Science-Society Interactions in the Social Sciences & Humanities (SSH). Doing a PhD is not an easy journey: you pass through many "existential crisis" linked to a learning curve that never rises, papers and conferences that are rejected and arise your insecurities about whether you are doing well or not (I guess everyone knows what I am talking about). Within all these unstable and chaotic events and feelings that accompanied a PhD, having a friendly, familiar and competitive place to work (plenty of brilliant personal and professional colleagues willing to help, support and back you) makes the difference. This place for me has been INGENIO. From the first day at INGENIO I have been strongly encouraged to pursue my objectives. I collaborated with brilliant researchers affiliated to INGENIO and received feedback from them that helped to improve my research. I attended numerous seminars organised by the Institute where recognised international researchers shared their last researches. The Institute provided resources to develop my career (funding to attend international conferences), contacts to conduct research stays abroad (Laval University & University of Twente), training to develop the necessary competencies that will be required in academia. All in all, my training in INGENIO has definitively result on the acquisition of a number of skills and knowledge that have make me competitive to get my current position as assistant professor at the University of Valencia. Of course, I still maintain my collaborations with INGENIO's colleagues from whom I am still learning every day.

I was a visiting researcher at INGENIO between April and July 2015, coming from the University of Nottingham in the UK. My interest in the Institute was first prompted by suggestion of an UK colleague, who thought my interdisciplinary background and interest in the social dimensions of STI nicely matched with INGENIO’s profile. I must admit I was surprised of not having heard of the Institute before, having done my PhD at the Institute of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Salamanca. Later I found that there were links between my former Institute and INGENIO (besides an important degree of disciplinary overlap, especially in the areas of S&T policy and research evaluation). It was not until the beginning of this year however that I would have my first direct contact with the Institute, through one of its members, David Barberà. As it often happens in new intellectual encounters, we were excited to explore potential routes for academic collaboration. Invited by David to do a research visit, at INGENIO I found space to engage with researchers coming from many different backgrounds and working on research topics that range from responsible research and innovation to grassroots movements. In the rather unlikely intersection of these two subjects I have carried on collaborating not only with David, but also other great minds of the Institute, like Sergio Belda and Sandra Boni. During the time spent there, a lot of food for thought also came from interactions with Ismael Rafols and Richard Wooley, not to mention the Institute’s enthusiastic graduate students. INGENIO is one of those rare and much needed places that make you think inter- and transdisciplinary research is actually possible. In current times, the institute is definitely in a great position – it has a good mix of intellectual diversity, academic capacity and international orientation. Most importantly, it is a friendly place that welcomes diversity and where I felt very welcomed.

INGENIO felt like and still feels like home to me. I landed at the institute as a naïve student, trained as an economist, with a master’s degree in strategy and business administration and with a relatively short experience in the private sector. Naivety is common when one starts a PhD since the reality never matches the initial expectations, and progressing through the thesis towards understanding what science is about (eureka!) is hard. INGENIO´s research staff were really helpful in guiding me through this journey. I managed to shout out loud “eureka!” after completing a thesis based on the analysis of organizations, corporate innovation and the role of openness and external agents in this process. INGENIO provided me with multiple opportunities to build a research portfolio in line with contemporary academic market needs. For example, I had the chance to participate in a public research project, which sought to answer questions related to the role of openness, R&D, strategy and management practices and innovation in Spanish manufacturing companies. INGENIO also encourages junior researchers to travel abroad in order to learn from different work environments and broaden professional networks. This freedom to pursue research visits allowed me to visit Rotterdam School of Management and Copenhagen Business School, where I engaged in fruitful collaborations with world’s leading scholars, which significantly helped me in becoming competitive in the international arena. Not by chance I had the opportunity of a post-doctoral position at Grenoble Business School, where I am currently developing my scholarly interests on open innovation, university-industry collaborations, management practices and composition of Top Management Teams.

I arrived at INGENIO from the UK with no scholarship and a preliminary PhD proposal on a topic, environmental innovation, that was relatively novel to the institute at the time. Before the end of the first year as a Ph.D. student I had the opportunity of becoming involved in a research project funded by the Framework Program of the European Commission. My participation in the project made a big difference for my professional life: therein I gained experience in collecting and analyzing data, designing more research proposals. In this process I also learned from failure, joined several international projects and completed my PhD. A week after my Viva, I got my current job in Brussels for the main EU initiative on Climate Change.
This professional trajectory reflects a lot also the evolution of INGENIO and of its research staff, from whom I learned that contradictions are just another way to see opportunities. The mix of different people regarding knowledge, background and capacities combined with dynamics of a relatively young organization provides a favourable as well as challenging context for those who are prepared to experiment with ideas and explore different paths towards developing new skills.

Staying at INGENIO was a marvelous experience. Everywhere there is a space and people to talk about innovation, which is fruitfully to open new ways of thinking, new angles to your own research. It is amazing to know people that is well recognized in this knowledge field and that is ready to give some advice, but, most importantly, a nice smile. Since your arrival everyone want to welcome you and know what you are working on in order to put you on contact with people that share the same research interests. The city is lovely, and has several things to do. The ocean view is precious. It’s the kind of experience you do not want to live only once. ;)

If it weren’t for an Australian colleague, I would try to pass myself off as the member of INGENIO furthest from ‘home’. Perhaps I can settle for the title of ‘having undergone the largest temperature change’ (in the positive direction) through my move to Valencia. But perhaps some more relevant information about myself, and how I wound up in Valencia, is required. I don’t fit very well into ‘disciplinary’ categories, nor professional categories. My training is in physics, science and technology studies and history of science; my doctoral thesis focused on the development of new fields of research on a national level (specifically, atmospheric science in Canada). Before coming to INGENIO, I had been working for several years as an S&T policy advisor within the Canadian government. So overall, my main interest—in a professional or academic setting—is in science policy, which involves first understanding the dynamics of science, or how it ‘works’ in terms of social networks, institutions, etc. But the term ‘science policy’ also implies a view of a science system that is not insulated from the rest of society. From economic growth to sound regulations, there is a continuous interplay between science and society, which is why ‘directing’ it through policy is has increasingly been recognized an important endeavour in recent decades.

Paul has been collaborating with INGENIO since 2011 in in the field of research valorisation and the exploitation of science system knowledge.  More recently, this has expanded to include a number of new topics including social innovation, researcher networking and universities' third mission activities.  The purpose of the October 2014 visit was principally related to the first of these areas, university research valorisation and in particular to advance three discrete pieces of work.  The main focus of the visit was a conceptual think-piece on policy approaches for stimulating valorisation, based on taking a broader view of the relationship between research that is valorised into society, and the wider scientific knowledge pool.   Paul led a symposium within INGENIO, where the initial ideas were presented, and based on the subsequent discussion, this has been written up as an INGENIO Working Paper. The two pieces of ongoing research work discussed during the visit are firstly a qualitative study of social sciences and humanities valorisation practices to complement previous conceptual and quantitative studies together with Magnus Gulbrandsen.  The second was a further piece of quantitative work seeking to ask whether a willingness to include social partner knowledge in core research projects was correlated with scientific performance by individual researchers.  In 2015, Mabel Sánchez Barrioluengo will continue the co-operation with a visit to CHEPS as part of INGENIO & CHEPS working together more closely in the area of universities and innovation capacity.

In October 2014 I was fortunate to spend two weeks at Ingenio interacting with its researchers and doctoral students. I must thank Professor Alejando Boni for extending the invitation to me, and facilitating such a productive stay at Ingenio. It was a tremendously stimulating visit, and one I hope to be able to repeat next year. I was very impressed by the welcoming, collegial, collaborative and generous research culture, led by the Director, and found the range of research projects underway and in preparation (for example on research and science policy indicators, on youth and social innovation) innovative and world-leading in their potential reach and significance. The deep concerns among Ingenio researchers for the impact of their research on policy and society aligns with developments across Europe. I had the further pleasure of engaging with a number of doctoral students and was impressed by the significance and originality of the work they are doing.

The period in INGENIO was very important for my PhD. I had a personal and professional experience very rewarding, especially when the group of doctoral students began meeting regularly to exchange knowledge and discuss the difficulties during the doctoral process. I learned many new things that helped me so much during my doctoral research and keep very useful in my profession as researcher. I had literature suggestions, exchanged ideas on specific aspects of my research and was able to present the partial results of the thesis to receive suggestions from everyone, which helped me a lot. Also, in a personal sense, this network made the days in INGENIO become very enjoyable and entertaining. Those 6 months were unforgettable. Thank you!