Introduction
The Uriach Chair of Nutraceutics (CUdN) at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili was created by the University's Governing Council on 7 May 2020, and began its activity on 22 September of the same year. This chair is the result of a collaboration agreement between the Rovira i Virgili University and the Uriach Foundation.
The chair is attached to the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, which coordinates the Official Master's Degree in Nutrition and Metabolism, taught in collaboration with the University of Barcelona. The chair's director, Dr. Begoña Muguerza, is a lecturer in the URV's Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology and coordinator of the Nutrigenomics research group. This group of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili has as its general objective the generation of knowledge aimed at the design of functional foods and nutraceuticals capable of preventing, delaying or alleviating metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome. The group's knowledge and experience have led them to establish an intense collaboration framework with different companies, including Uriach.
Mission & Goals
The chair was created with the mission of generating, disseminating and transferring knowledge on nutraceuticals from different but complementary perspectives such as the industrial, professional and educational worlds. The creation of these synergies will be the basis for future spaces for debate, collaboration and development in this field of study.
The specific goals of the CUdN are:
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Student Education
To help train students to meet the new challenges in the field of nutraceutics.
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Employment Insertion
To promote their employment in the business and industrial world.
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Formation for Professionals
To encourage the training of professionals related to the world of nutraceuticals.
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Knowledge Difussion
Promoting scientific meetings to make difussion of the nutaceutical world.
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New Research
Create new lines of research in this innovative field of study.
Activities
In order to achieve its goals, the Chair will carry out different activities, some of the main ones will include:
- Grants
The awarding of grants to students of the official Master's Degree in Nutrition and Metabolism (URV-UB) for an internship in the innovation department of Uriach, where they will learn first-hand about the complete life cycle of the development of products linked to nutraceuticals.
- Awards
The establishment of an annual prize to be awarded to the best Bachelor's (BT) and Master's (MT) theses on nutraceuticals.
- Formation
The teaching participation of professionals from the Uriach Innovation Department in the official Master's Degree in Nutrition and Metabolism (URV-UB) to provide students with a vision of nutraceutics from an industrial and professional point of view.
The organisation of conferences to train professionals in nutraceuticals.
- Workshops
The organisation of specialised courses and conferences aimed at professionals and students where nutraceuticals will be presented and discussed.
- Research
The promotion of new lines of research in the field of nutraceutics.