One of the most solid strengths in the University of Cantabria is its scientific excellence, which is clear from the quality of its research as well as its transfer capacity. The creation and consolidation of leading R+D+i groups in various areas of knowledge; the design and development of an ambitious strategy of institutional aggregation aimed at the creation of institutes and mixed research centres, and the increased capacity to attract competitive and private funding for R+D+i turn this area into one of the most competent assets in the Cantabria International Campus strategy. It is the first Spanish University which has created its own research staff team.
One of the distinguishing features of the University of Cantabria is its transfer capacity, clearly shown with its absolute leadership in the amount of funding obtained per researcher. In spite of its great position, the resources intended for the “third mission” have intensified during the last few years. The full activity in the Centre for Technological Development, inaugurated a decade ago, represents a reflection of this synergic relationship with the entrepreneurial fabric. At the same time, it has been favoured by an intensive process of institutional aggregation. The construction of the Scientific-Technological Park and approval of the Plan for Renewable Energies (see epigraph A) announce a new stage in the management of transfer processes.
If Cantabria aspires to turn itself into a pole of attraction and development for talent, excellence in its teaching centres is an obligation. The University of Cantabria was one of the first to implement a quality system in all its degree titles (year 2000), two years before the creation of ANECA. Throughout the decade, this commitment to an improvement in teaching has become a very active implication in all of the projects relating to quality, educational innovation and the implementation of the European Higher Education Area.
The process to adapt to the European Higher Education Area (EEES) and its relation to international excellence convert this area in a strategic axis. The University of Cantabria will undertake a plan aimed at internationalizing its offer, coordinating action-lines with Secondary Institutes, dynamizing its academic and cultural life and adapting its installations to teaching needs which derive from its adaptation to EHEA.
The University of Cantabria has started an ambitious project to re-distribute the campus of Santander and Torrelavega, in close coordination with their respective Town Councils. Likewise, it has designed and implemented various projects for the development of a social model based on the quality of labour relations and a plan to bring family and working-life together.
The reduced size of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria allows both universities to be narrowly overlapped with the territory. The tradition of collaboration with the region has expressed itself in unanimous support to the Cantabria International Campus Project, which for the first time has managed to add the support of all the institutions. Both universities have avoided turning their backs on society, opening their doors to citizens through a wide offer of cultural, social and informative activities.
A complete list is shown of all those action-lines which are under development and set out in the Regional Strategic Plan of Cantabria International Campus, grouped together by action-lines which are defined in the official announcement of International Campus of Excellence.