From the Research University to the World-Class University

Let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude for the invitation to join you in the Aula Magna of the University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timișoara on this special occasion. It is a great honour to address a university community with a long tradition, a distinctive scientific vocation and a clear commitment to the challenges of our time.

Moreover, the title of today’s event, “Young People and Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Life Sciences”, is particularly meaningful. It places young people, scientific collaboration and the practical relevance of knowledge at the heart of our discussions. Your programme brings together the opening of a research conference, keynote contributions, scientific presentations and, most movingly for me, the award of a Doctor Honoris Causa degree. And these are connected activities.

I would like to make special mention of the Doctor Honoris Causa degree awarded to Professor Javier Rodrigo Ilarri, Head of the Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Environment at the Universitat Politècnica de València. This gives me both institutional pride because this distinction honours a respected professor and researcher from our university; and personal satisfaction, because Javier is also a friend and a colleague with whom I have had the privilege of collaborating over many years. I know his commitment to science and engineering, his intellectual generosity and the seriousness with which he approaches academic life.

I want also to recognize the value of receiving this award from King Mihai I University. A university that has a clearly defined scientific identity, with its origins that date back to 1945. Its evolution from agronomy and veterinary medicine towards the wider field of life sciences is particularly relevant to today’s challenges. I particularly value the way King Mihai I University combines this specialisation with opportunities for experimentation and applied work. I know that the development of the university’s research activity and its internationalization is noteworthy, and that the university is an active participant in European cooperation and mobility programmes.

I believe the UPV shares strong interests with King Mihai I University in fields like agricultural engineering, sustainable production, water management, biotechnology, food processing and innovation linked to the territory. These are areas of natural complementarity and potential future joint projects to be explored.

I would like to use this opportunity to offer a reflection on the transformation of the contemporary university. During the second half of the twentieth century, the development of the research university was one of the great drivers of scientific and technological progress. Competitive research, doctoral education, advanced laboratories and academic freedom transformed our capacity to understand the world.

That legacy remains essential: any university aspiring to excellence must create original knowledge and educate new generations of researchers. But my argument is that, in the twenty-first century, these qualities, although necessary, are no longer sufficient.

That is why we frequently speak of world-class universities. Sometimes we use the term as though it referred exclusively to institutions at the top of international rankings. Rankings can provide useful information, but we must not confuse the indicator with the objective (university excellence cannot be reduced to a ranking). A world-class university is defined not only by how many papers it publishes or by its ability to attract international talent. It must also be judged by the questions it asks, the education it provides, the trust it earns, its commitment to society, and its ability to transform the economy and improve collective well-being.

I am not proposing a single institutional model, and I do not believe that excellence requires every university to have the same size, structure or specialisation. A specialised university can achieve extraordinary impact when it connects its scientific strengths with the needs of its region and with leading international networks.

In my view, the world-class university of the twenty-first century brings together six interdependent dimensions: (1) high-quality education and lifelong learning; (2) excellent and open research; (3) innovation and knowledge transfer; (4) cooperation with industry and the creation of new companies; (5) social responsibility and sustainability; and (6) internationalisation as a cross-cutting feature of the entire institution.

These dimensions must not operate as separate compartments. Their real value comes from interaction: when a student participates in a real-world project, a company engages with a research group, a laboratory joins an international collaboration, or scientific findings lead to improvements in environmental or public health, the university multiplies its contribution to society.

Of course, our first mission remains the education of our students. We must provide more than scientific or technical knowledge: we must cultivate judgement, critical thinking, the capacity to keep learning, entrepreneurship and an ethical awareness.

At a time shaped by artificial intelligence and accelerating technological change, these qualities matter more than ever. Our graduates will not simply compete against artificial intelligence; to a large extent, they will compete with professionals who are better able to use it, understand its limitations and take responsibility for their decisions.

Our second mission requires us to protect fundamental research while also enabling its findings to be applied. Not every valuable discovery should immediately become a product or a patent. Equally, however, we cannot accept a situation in which society’s needs remain disconnected from the tremendous scientific capacities of our universities.

Our third mission—knowledge transfer and innovation—now takes many forms: research contracts; cooperation with public authorities and companies; spin-off creation; entrepreneurship support; continuing professional education; civic participation; and expert advice on major societal challenges. A university can be an engine of economic development, without surrendering its academic independence or allowing short-term interests to dictate its agenda.

And all these three missions must be developed under a socially responsible framework. We should ask who benefits from the knowledge we generate, how we advance equal opportunity, how we contribute to the ecological transition, and what values our students acquired in the classroom and throughout university life.

At the UPV, for example, student initiatives such as “Generación Espontánea” (our makers program) bring thousands of students together in self-organised teams to build prototypes, compete in international challenges, and learn leadership and collaboration. In our educational model (“UPV experience”), these and other programmes provide fundamental complements to formal education that help to develop professionals that will be capable of working in complex and rapidly changing environments.

I consider that an excellent university should not train people merely to reproduce established answers. It must help them formulate new questions, evaluate evidence, work across disciplines, and act responsibly when their decisions have consequences for society. And the extensive availability of generative artificial intelligence makes these skills much more important.

Let me turn now to a central theme in my speech: internationalisation. For decades, university internationalisation primarily meant student exchanges, academic visits and cooperation agreements. These activities have been essential and must continue to expand. Programmes such as ERASMUS have made an extraordinary contribution to European mutual understanding and to the development of a shared academic identity.

But the next stage requires us to go further. Internationalising a university means internationalising its teaching, research issues, talent, partnerships, relationships with industry and public authorities, and capacity to participate in different innovation ecosystems. It means moving from a collection of exchanges and agreements to a fully institutional strategy for creating value together.

The European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area provide a vital framework. We must strengthen academic recognition, joint degrees, doctoral co-supervision, knowledge circulation, shared infrastructure and participation in research networks. But Europe should be a platform for cooperation, not the outer limit of our ambitions.

In a global knowledge economy, advanced internationalisation requires stable relationships with partners in other regions, partnerships with companies operating in international innovation networks, and the inclusion of new places and scientific communities in the university’s mission.

This demands a long-term perspective. Deep internationalisation cannot be improvised, nor should it be measured solely by the number of signed agreements.

We need to assess the quality and durability of partnerships, joint research output, collaborative education, opportunities created for students and their wider impact.

My previous remarks are not abstract principles. They underpin the policies developed by my university. The UPV was founded with a strong technological vocation and close ties to Valencian society, its industries, agriculture, architecture and infrastructure. Our current knowledge ecosystem extends today far beyond this initial university project including arts, humanities, social sciences and basic sciences. And we have also worked to turn those local roots into a foundation for international engagement.

Every year, around 10,000 UPV students undertake internships in companies and other organisations. We have nearly 110 company-funded chairs which support education, research and the development of talent. And our lifelong-learning programmes reach tens of thousands of people annually—approximately 35,000 to 40,000 participants, depending on the definition used. We are also a leading institution in knowledge transfer in Spain, and in the European research framework program.

These figures illustrate a way of understanding the university: responsive to professional needs, committed to lifelong learning and closely connected to an economy whose businesses also help identify important research questions.

And our international reach has been built over many decades. In Central and South America, the UPV developed master’s and doctoral programmes, joint projects and academic partnerships that went far beyond isolated initiatives. They helped build communities of academics and graduates, networks of trust and relationships that remain part of our institutional strength.

Today, that journey is entering a new phase. Last September, together with Beihang University, we inaugurated the Beihang Valencia Polytechnic Institute—our permanent academic centre in Hangzhou, China. This represents a qualitative change. It is not simply a matter of sending students abroad or offering an occasional course. It involves sustained academic activity, official degree programmes, teaching, research and a commitment to knowledge transfer within another innovation ecosystem.

The BVPI began its academic activity with close to 400 students in four undergraduate programmes and six master’s programmes taught in English, with plans to develop four doctoral programmes and expand joint research. Its official inauguration took place on 19 September 2026. We have built this partnership with a highly respected technological university, in a region known for its remarkable industrial and digital innovation.

But I would like to emphasise one point. Our ambition is not merely to reproduce our classrooms in a different country. We seek to put into practice the same principles that guide the UPV in Valencia: academic quality, competitive research, interaction with businesses, institutional cooperation, comprehensive education and social commitment. In Hangzhou, we must become an active member of the surrounding ecosystem, not an isolated academic community.

And this relationship must work in both directions. Our presence in China should create opportunities for students and staff in Valencia, enable joint projects and new research questions, open doors to industrial cooperation, and enrich our own teaching and learning through different scientific and cultural perspectives.

To me, the central lesson is not that every university should establish a campus abroad. Each institution must choose the approach most consistent with its mission and capabilities. The lesson is that internationalisation produces its greatest benefits when it becomes an integral part of the university’s missions rather than a peripheral activity.

I would also like to underline two important remarks. The first is that great challenges of our time do not respect the boundaries of academic departments.

Climate change, water scarcity, food security, sustainable agriculture, animal health and biodiversity demand cooperation among engineers, life scientists, environmental researchers, economists and specialists in digital technologies.

Multidisciplinary research is not simply a fashionable label. It is often the only credible response to problems whose causes, impacts and possible solutions are deeply interconnected.

The second is that we should also remember that international scientific cooperation can no longer be taken for granted. Geopolitical tensions, technological competition and barriers to the movement of people and knowledge require responsible choices. Defending scientific openness does not mean overlooking risks to security, integrity or strategic independence. It means building reliable, reciprocal partnerships governed by clear rules. Europe needs strategic autonomy—and precisely for that reason it also needs universities connected to the world. Perhaps our greatest responsibility is to build lasting bridges at a time when so many forces are driving fragmentation.

Let me conclude by returning to the reason I am here today. I am deeply grateful to the University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timișoara for the opportunity to share these reflections. I warmly congratulate Professor Javier Rodrigo Ilarri on the distinction he will receive later this morning, and I thank Rector Cosmin Alin Popescu and all those who have made this gathering possible.

I wish you a highly productive conference and a fruitful scientific exchange. I hope today’s discussions and presentations will not only share research results, but also inspire young researchers, create new academic friendships and open avenues for practical collaboration between our universities.

I believe that excellent universities do not merely observe the future. They help shape it. And they do so most effectively when they remain rooted in their communities, place knowledge at the service of society and open themselves confidently to the world.

Thank you very much.