Spanish university briefs students on legal and financial aspects of R&D
This February around 68 students at Spain's University of Valencia are settling down to study the legal and financial issues of research and development as part of a new course to educate undergraduates on aspects of R&D management. Lecturer and lawyer Mr Alfredo Escardino proposed the course to the university last year after identifying a niche in the R&D sector. Mr Escardino has been involved in the R&D sector since the 1980s, working for several research institutes and advising on several legal issues. 'Most of the time I realised the non-existence of legal structures were inadequate for promoting links between research institutions and companies,' he told CORDIS News. 'If a company doesn't have the people or expertise for technology transfer either way it creates a legal relationship...There are a lot of things to build with on the execution of a project, such as financing, protection, patents, trademarks and economic exploitation...I imagine some students will become legal advisors for research companies, working alongside scientists and will need a broad knowledge of the nature of R&D,' says Escardino. 'As far as we know, this is the only course of its kind in Spain.' The course is not aimed at research mangers, but instead focuses more on legal and financial matters and as such has attracted mostly students of law, economics and business administration. However it is open to all undergraduate students at the university and Mr Escardino hopes the course will also interest science students. Mr Escardino also lends his services to the European Commission, as an advisor to research project coordinators, particularly for CRAFT projects and the Commission's current programme to promote competitive and sustainable growth. He was general manager of the European economic interest grouping (EEIG) in 1992.