The Iberdrola-University of Salamanca Chair closes a successful project in the scientific and academic sphere
- Created on the occasion of the 8th Centenary, it has obtained more than €1.1 million in R&D projects and contracts and has promoted the University Master's Degree in Energy Transition and Sustainability, soon to be implemented at the Higher Polytechnic School of Ávila.
- The lines of research developed over the last five years are currently being continued within the scope of the IA4TES project (Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Energy Transition).
The University of Salamanca, on the occasion of the celebration of the VIII Centenary, launched in 2017 the Iberdrola Chair, a research, teaching and transfer unit, whose main objective was to become a pole of attraction to incorporate researchers of recognised prestige in the field of energy transition into the institution.
Five years after the researcher from the Higher Polytechnic School of Ávila Susana Lagüela won the competition, in competitive competition, this pioneering project comes to an end with a balance of success as a result of the excellent results achieved in the scientific, academic and economic fields (with direct repercussions in the city of Ávila and its province), as explained today at a press conference by José Miguel Mateos Roco, vice-rector for Research and Transfer; Beatriz Crisóstomo, Iberdrola's Global Head of Innovation; Ángel Luis Muñoz Nieto, Director of the Department of Cartographic and Terrain Engineering; and the Chair's Director herself.
Thus, at the scientific level, during the years of life of the Iberdrola Chair, which started in December 2017, more than €1.1 million of funding was achieved in R&D projects
External link, opens in new window. (€1,063,602) and R&D contracts (€67,962), which allowed the development of 11 projects in competitive calls and five research contracts in the fields of renewable energies, sustainability, and the fight against climate change. Of these, four were in collaboration with and/or financed by Iberdrola.
The result of these initiatives has been the creation of seven more pre-doctoral researcher positions (including one FPU researcher and one Junta of Castile and León pre-doctoral researcher), the publication of seven articles in high impact journals (plus two under review) and the participation in seven national and international congresses. Likewise, a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on Mapping Renewable Energy Resources has been generated on the MIRIADA X platform, as a precursor to a Degree (Master's Degree in Energy Transition and Sustainability, under evaluation by ACSUCyL and with an estimated start-up in the 2023/2024 academic year).
Academic impact
Likewise, the developments associated with the Iberdrola VIII Centenary Chair of the University of Salamanca, carried out at the Higher Polytechnic School of Ávila, have had a clear academic impact at different levels of higher education. Directly, the developments were taught in the Renewable Energy Resources Mapping MOOC on the MIRIADA X platform. This online course was launched in two editions, in 2018 and 2019, achieving a high level of follow-up on a global scale, with students from 36 countries, mainly in Europe and America, but also on the African continent.
Precisely, this MOOC has been the precursor of the Master's Degree in Energy Transition and Sustainability, soon to be implemented at the Polytechnic School of Ávila (starting in the academic year 2023/2024).
Likewise, the implementation of the Iberdrola Chair at the Higher Polytechnic School of Ávila had a clear impact on the modernisation of education at the undergraduate level, especially in the Degree in Energy and Mineral Resources Engineering, formerly the Degree in Mining Engineering, both in terms of new subjects offered in the fields of renewable energies and energy transition and in terms of Final Degree Projects offered in these areas.
Finally, it should be noted that the developments carried out have served and continue to serve to reinforce the lines of research within the Doctorate Program in Geotechnologies applied to Construction, Energy and Industry, as well as in the Master's Degree in Cartographic Geotechnologies in Engineering and Architecture.
Lines for the future
The lines of research developed within the framework of the Iberdrola VIII Centenary Chair of the University of Salamanca are currently being continued within the scope of the IA4TES project (Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Energy Transition), obtained in the call of the R&D Missions Program in Artificial IntelligenceExternal link, opens in new window. in the 21st Century Energy Sector of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.
This project will have a duration of three years (2022 - 2024), and has a consortium led by Iberdrola with large companies joined by nine SMEs with very relevant previous experience in AI, in the energy sector or in other sectors, and several research entities with advanced programs and national and international benchmarks in the field of AI, both public and private, including four research centres and three public universities, including the University of Salamanca.
Specifically, the University of Salamanca, through the research group associated with the Iberdrola VIII Centenary Chair, has a budget of €268,380, which it will devote to the development of Artificial Intelligence tools with applications in four areas: collective self-consumption, energy exploitation of the subsoil, digitalisation of electricity stations and substations and the study of urban heat islands.
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More information:
Susana Lagüela López, Professor of the Department of Cartographic and Land Engineering at USAL and Director of the Iberdrola Chair.
Email: sulaguela@usal.es
Web. https://centenario.usal.es/catedras/catedraiberdrolaExternal link, opens in new window.