Conferencia inaugural del curso académico 2018-19
24 October · 10:30
Internationalisation of Higher Education & Research: Engagement to local and global challenges
Venue: Room 24.112 (First floor). Mercè Rodoreda building 24.
Francesc Xavier Grau is the Secretary for University and Research of the Generalitat de Catalunya. He is has a PhD by the Universitat de Barcelona (1986) and he is Professor of Fluid Mechanics at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
He has worked as a researcher at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics of Toulouse, at the NASA Turbulence Research Center in Ames and at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Stanford.
His research has focused on physics, mathematical modeling and control of heat transfer, matter and quantity of movement in industrial facilities and fluxes and also in the environment. In addition to being active in basic research in his field (he has authored more than 100 articles and scientific communications and has directed 12 doctoral theses), he has an experience of more than 30 years in applied research and projects with the industry.
He has also been actively involved in the establishment of training programs on scientific topics, aimed at the general public, and particularly children and young people. He has been involved in the relations between university and society and between industry and society, as coordinator of the Public Advisory Panel of Dow in Tarragona.
He was Rector of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili between 2006 and 2014, during which he led the Campus of International Excellence Southern Catalonia. He has been a member of the Permanent Committee and first vice president of the Spanish Universities' Rector's Conference (CRUE), president of the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP) and president of the International Relations Commission of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia (CIC).
Between 2014 and 2016 he has been the academic director of the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi), a network created by an agreement between UNESCO, the United Nations University and the Catalan Association of Public Universities to strengthen the role of the higher education in society.