En cuarta posición se sitúan dos ingenierías: el grado en Ingeniería Informática y el grado en Tecnologías de Telecomunicación. En quinto lugar aparece el grado en Ciencias Políticas.

Esta edición del ranking es fruto del análisis de 27 criterios de selección, la opinión del personal docente y otros estudios externos como como resultados en ránkings internacionales, informes de la Aneca o resultados de informes de universidades españolas, entre otros. En base a ello, se establece un ranking que tiene en cuenta el número de grados clasificados en las cinco primeras posiciones. 

L天美传媒 es una de las universidades con más titulaciones en el ranking pese a que solo una parte de sus grados (16) puede competir en esta clasificación, al no ofertar todos los que se evalúan. Es decir, 12 de las 16 titulaciones UC3M que participan en esta edición del ranking se posicionan entre las cinco primeras.  

L天美传媒 es una universidad pública española que destaca en investigación, docencia e innovación. Figura entre las mejores universidades del mundo en el ranking QS World University Rankings 2025 y la primera española por su rendimiento general, según la última edición del U-Ranking. L天美传媒 es la primera universidad en Europa en conseguir la acreditación dual ACEEU por su contribución e impacto en el tejido industrial y social, y cuenta, además, con otras acreditaciones y distinciones de calidad, como el sello EUR-ACE en el ámbito de las ingenierías o la acreditación AACSB en los programas de empresa y finanzas.

Combining elements of psychoanalysis, philosophy and critical media theory to explore the impact of the digital ecosystem on subjectivity and the construction of power, Carrera argues that the Internet, in its role as a mass media, produces an environment where the symbolic structures generated by the coexistence of discourses and systems of mediation in concurrence (necessary conditions for democracy) are eroded, giving way to new forms of control camouflaged as transparency and empowerment.

Given the obvious recycling between the logic of capital, power and the mass media, the implications of this research are clear. Carrera warns against confusing technology with media logic, something which is very common and distorting. What is at issue here is not technology, nor is it a question of rehashing some nostalgic and regressive “Luddite” argument. The “tabula rasa fallacy and the myths of disintermediation have proven quite useful in diverting attention from the power structures that administer and orchestrate the alleged ‘noise’ of the Internet, a medium in which, in reality, as in any mass media, everything is planned and controlled.” 

She also argues that the shift towards a totally mediatised privacy completely disconnected from the polis, as has been happening over the last decades and definitively consolidated during the COVID-19 pandemic, represents a regression, in terms of the imaginary, to pre-democratic regimes.

To carry out this analysis, the author uses an interdisciplinary methodology that combines the study of media cases with a philosophical approach. Through the examination of phenomena such as hyperconnectivity, ‘clickbait’ culture and the algorithmic manipulation of public discourse, she highlights how the digital environment has generated an imperialist and deterministic narrative capable of obliterating the plurality of the world and the possibility of change: “It is an act of fraudulent misrepresentation to identify the architecture of the Internet with the architecture of society as a whole and, even more so, with reality”.

The research also looks at aspects related to the dominant media discourse on AI, in which the already weakened notion of responsibility is intentionally blurred even further (attributed first to the ‘users’ and now to some ‘out-of-control’ algorithm and not to the owners of the different platforms): “The mainstream discourse on AI is, at the same time, miraculous, apocalyptic, omnipotent, occultist..., a true testamentary-astrological mix and match. We have entered the Tarot phase of the medium.” All this, it is pointed out, responds to reasons of a strictly prosaic nature, to do with economics and power. “The digital narrative is only a reflection of itself, of its own logical structure, camouflaged under an apparent Babel-like polyphony of global users,” concludes Carrera. 

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Su candidatura ha sido elegida entre otras muchas procedentes de centros de excelencia en Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Alemania, Francia y Suiza, entre otros. En un acto celebrado en Madrid el 28 de octubre en la Fundación Ramón Areces, el científico ha agradecido la elección y ha destacado que este programa le va a permitir “primero, trasladar su laboratorio desde el Reino Unido a una institución estratégicamente posicionada en España en unas condiciones muy competitivas no sólo en el marco de la investigación en España, sino a nivel internacional”. “En segundo lugar, este programa va a facilitar hacer preguntas de largo alcance en un momento oportuno en el emergente campo de la inmunología del cáncer. Estas preguntas constituyen un terreno fértil para posible innovación en el campo de las inmunoterapias”, ha añadido.

Sobre el objetivo último de sus investigaciones en tumores sólidos como el de páncreas, Armando del Río ha explicado que “en los últimos años su grupo ha identificado dos mecanoreguladores en el microambiente tumoral del adenocarcinoma ductal pancreático y el carcinoma hepatocelular. La activación de estos mecanoreguladores inhibe la respuesta fibrótica y reprograma el microambiente tumoral en estos tumores sólidos para hacerlos hostiles a la propagación de células cancerosas y al reclutamiento de células proinflamatorias. La visión de futuro del proyecto de investigación de mi grupo es utilizar estos reguladores de señalización mecánica, u otros que puedan ser identificados, para inhibir la resistencia de las células cancerosas al tratamiento con quimioterapia o inmunoterapia”.

Emilio Bouza, presidente del Consejo Científico de la Fundación Ramón Areces, ha explicado que “este Programa de Retorno del Talento se propone fomentar el regreso a España de investigadores con carreras consolidadas en el extranjero. Esperamos que este programa tenga un impacto positivo en el sistema de ciencia español en su conjunto y en el caso concreto de esta primera edición en la carrera investigadora del galardonado así como en la Comunidad de Madrid, donde se encuentra la institución de acogida, la 天美传媒”.  

Por su parte, el rector de l天美传媒, Ángel Arias, ha valorado “el apoyo de la Fundación Ramón Areces al impulso de la investigación de excelencia con impacto social positivo”. Esta necesaria colaboración público-privada se materializa en “destacadas iniciativas como este Programa de Retorno de Talento, así como de numerosas becas predoctorales y postdoctorales que financia en diferentes convenios con la Universidad y otros centros”. El rector ha destacado la trayectoria del investigador Armando del Río, que liderará “un proyecto totalmente estratégico para Madrid y para el conjunto del país, como es la Facultad de Ciencias de Salud de dicha Universidad”. Como ha asegurado, el profesor se convierte en delegado del rector con rango de decano de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de l天美传媒. “Hemos iniciado este curso el primer grado en Neurociencia de España y en septiembre de 2025 iniciaremos el Grado en Ciencias Biomédicas. Nuestra Facultad de Salud y nuestro posicionamiento en salud constituye un enfoque integral y diferencial respecto de otros modelos de investigación. En él se suman sinergias de campos complementarios, como la ingeniería, las ciencias sociales y jurídicas, las humanidades y la comunicación. Según ha explicado el Rector, “el Grado en Neurociencia permitirá generar conocimiento sobre enfermedades neurodegenerativas como la ELA, el Parkinson o el Alzheimer y el Grado en Ciencias Biomédicas se enfocará en otras enfermedades, como el cáncer, las enfermedades cardiovasculares y las enfermedades infecciosas”.

En la clausura, la viceconsejera de Universidades, Investigación y Ciencia de la Comunidad de Madrid, Ana Ramírez de Molina, ha recordado que “en ciencia, donde la creatividad es esencial, el talento es la base de todo”. Ha destacado asimismo la necesidad de programas como este, “tan necesarios”. Y ha recalcado el hecho de que Armando del Río “regrese a una universidad pública referente en investigación como lo es la 天美传媒”. Tras agradecer la gestión de este programa de retorno de talento científico, ha valorado que “la sociedad demande y defienda el gran valor que tiene la ciencia, que la sociedad pida que se invierta en talento y en investigación”. “Desde la Comunidad de Madrid, también estamos comprometidos con el retorno del talento”, ha concluido con referencia a las becas César Nombela.

Sus principales líneas de actividad son la economía de redes sociales, diseño y mecanismos, juegos de aprendizaje y evolución, economía experimental y conductual, y organización industrial.

La Ley 39/2007, de 19 de noviembre, de la carrera militar, diseña un nuevo modelo de enseñanza que comprende, por una parte, la formación militar general y específica, y por otra, la correspondiente a un título de grado universitario del sistema educativo general que se impartirán en un sistema de centros universitarios de la defensa, ubicados en las referidas academias militares. Con esta vocación nace el CUGC, Centro Universitario de la Guardia Civil que es un centro adscrito a l天美传媒.

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La finalidad última es que tanto en el sector público como en la empresa privada, o en el tercer sector, se tenga una conexión más directa con la universidad pública para la mejora y la evaluación de su toma de decisiones.

A partir de las preguntas “¿qué pasaría si? ¿por qué no?” se desafía al alumnado a “destruir el mundo” y crear uno nuevo en 300 años a través de la investigación científica. “El objetivo es fomentar la curiosidad y el pensamiento crítico. Su carácter interdisciplinar permite la adaptación a diferentes asignaturas y niveles. A su vez, presenta infinitas posibilidades en el ámbito empresarial y social y también en la creación de prototipos”, señala Helena Galán. “El reto fue adaptarla a una asignatura teórica de carácter optativo. La idea era que reflexionaran sobre la construcción mediática de la identidad para ayudar a articular iniciativas colectivas en un contexto global de creciente polarización, con el fin de promover el respeto a la diversidad y resaltar la importancia del diálogo para el consenso social".  

Para ello, se partió de una o varias preguntas específicas y, a través de la creación de un universo completo, se exploró la identidad considerando todas sus dimensiones (gobernanza/política, infraestructura, cultura y sociedad, recursos y economía) y a diversas escalas (desde lo macro a lo micro, desde lo global a lo local).

La profesora ha presentado un proyecto de innovación docente para aplicar la metodología a los objetivos y competencias de la asignatura Narrativa Audiovisual durante el curso académico 2024/2025. Se pretende superar así las limitaciones temporales que hubo en la asignatura optativa, donde se aplicó de forma piloto, y mantener su naturaleza interdisciplinar. Se contará para ello con la colaboración de los profesores Jorge Pleite, del Departamento de Ingeniería Electrónic天美传媒, y Roberto Losada, profesor del Departamento de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad. El proyecto irá dirigido hacia la creación de mundos para narrativas inmersivas (como XR o videojuegos, entre otros). 

Helena Galán es licenciada en Ciencias de la Información por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid y doctora en Comunicación por la Universidad de Extremadura, experta en guión y narrativa. Actualmente, es profesora titular del Departamento de Comunicación de l天美传媒. Pertenece al grupo de investigación Innovación y Medios Digitales UC3M, al Instituto Universitario de Estudios de Género UC3M, a la red Iberoamericana de Narrativas Audiovisuales (red INAV); al Consorcio Internacional Junk y al Foro Internacional de Inteligencia Artificial y Comunicación. Ha publicado en monografías y revistas de impacto sobre temáticas diversas como identidades mediáticas, representaciones, género, análisis del discurso, historias de los medios, estudios televisivos, análisis fílmico, narrativas inmersivas y World Building, pensamiento crítico y tecnología. Participa a su vez en varias iniciativas sociales como Manifiesto Off, iniciativa independiente que promueve el desarrollo tecnológico al servicio de la educación y la reflexión sobre el uso (y abuso) de las tecnologías.

María Luisa González-Cuellar es licenciada en Derecho por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) y doctora en Derecho por l天美传媒, donde recibió un premio extraordinario por su tesis doctoral. Actualmente, es profesora de Derecho Financiero y Tributario de l天美传媒 y codirectora del Máster Universitario en Tributación. 

De su actividad investigadora destacan sus estudios sobre diversos ámbitos sociales, como la fiscalidad de la actividad cultural, la vivienda, las relaciones económico-familiares o las personas con discapacidad. Asimismo, ha trabajado en la mediación y el arbitraje en materia tributaria, la tributación de las sociedades profesionales, la doble imposición de dividendos, la fiscalidad de los deportistas profesionales o las ayudas del Estado, entre otros.

Todos estos trabajos han sido objeto de diversas monografías, participación en libros y artículos en revistas especializadas.

The researchers have developed a typology of deepfakes, which makes it easier to identify and neutralise them. According to the results of the study, some political leaders (such as Trump or Macron) were the main protagonists of content referring to drug use or morally reprehensible activities. There is also a considerable proportion of pornographic deepfakes that harm women's integrity, particularly exposing famous singers and actresses. They are generally shared from unofficial accounts and spread quickly via instant messaging services, the researchers say.

The proliferation of deepfakes, or the frequent use of images, videos or audios manipulated with AI tools, is a highly topical issue. “This type of prefabricated hoax is especially harmful in sensitive situations, such as in pre-election periods or in times of conflict like the ones we are currently experiencing in Ukraine or Gaza. This is what we call 'hybrid wars': the war is not only fought in the physical realm, but also in the digital realm, and the falsehoods are more significant than ever”, says Ruiz Incertis.

The applications of this research are diverse, from national security to the integrity of election campaigns. The findings suggest that the proactive use of AI on social media platforms could revolutionise the way we maintain the authenticity of information in the digital age.

The research highlights the need for greater media literacy and proposes educational strategies to improve the public's ability to discern between real and manipulated content. “Many of these deepfakes can be identified through reverse image searches on search engines such as Google or Bing. There are tools for the public to check the accuracy of content in a couple of clicks before spreading content of dubious origin. The key is to teach them how to do it”, says Raquel Ruiz Incertis. It also provides other tips for detecting deepfakes, such as paying attention to the sharpness of the edges of the elements and the definition of the image background: if the movements are slowed down in the videos or whether there is any facial alteration, body disproportion or strange play of light and shadows, everything indicates that it could be AI-generated content. 

In addition, the study's authors also see the need for a legislation that obliges platforms, applications and programmes (such as Midjourney or Dall-e) to establish a “watermark” that identifies them and allows the user to know at a glance that the image or video has been modified or created entirely with AI.

The research team has used a multidisciplinary approach, combining data science and qualitative analysis, to examine how fact-checking organisations apply AI in their operations. The main methodology is a content analysis of around thirty publications taken from the websites of the aforementioned fact-checkers where this AI-manipulated or manufactured content is disproved. 

Bibliographic reference: Garriga, M., Ruiz-Incertis , R., & Magallón-Rosa, R. (2024). Artificial intelligence, disinformation and media literacy proposals around deepfakes. Observatorio (OBS*), 18(5).  

The programme began on the 17th of April at the Doré cinema and will be spread over the next few months at different venues and in different formats. It will be carried out through a series of activities (restored film screenings, meetings and round tables) divided into six sections.

The first section is called Importando archivo (Importing archives) and will be held between the 22nd and the 29th of April at the Getafe and Madrid-Puerta de Toledo campuses. It consists of talks and round tables in which archive and restoration professionals will share their experiences. Among them is Nicole Fernández Ferrer, president of the historical feminist video archive Simone de Beauvoir Audiovisual Centre (Paris), who will show some materials to illustrate the centre's restoration work. 

This section started yesterday, the 22nd of April, with a round table of young film restoration professionals, with the participation of Enrique Fibla-Gutiérrez (UAB), Patricia Uceda (The Spanish Film Archive) and Andrea Sánchez Lañez (EQZE). 

On the 25th of April, members of the La Digitalizadora de la Memoria Colectiva (The Collective Memory Digitiser) platform, dedicated to the conservation and dissemination of the audiovisual memory of social movements, will give a talk on their processes and approach to the maintenance and conservation of the collective heritage of home cinema. 

The second section is Cine (en) vivo (Live Cinema), which begins on Saturday the 27th of April in the Leganés campus Auditorium with a performance by the UC3M Orchestra. The orchestra will perform the adaptation of the lyrical farce La Revoltosa, which the film director Florián Rey made into a film with the same title in 1924. The film, although not preserved in its entirety, has recently been restored and digitised in 4K by The Spanish Film Archive.

On the 9th of May, the musician and producer Raül Refree will do a live performance of the soundtrack he composed for the Spanish film classic La aldea maldita (The Cursed Village) (Florián Rey, 1930). His performance will be accompanied by percussionist Nuria Andorrà. 

The third section is called Siempre importaron (They Always Mattered) and will take place during the month of May at the UC3M Auditorium. It will screen a series of restorations of titles such as In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000) and Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, 1997). They will be presented by leading figures in contemporary culture and social media.

AQLI? will feature an annual series of restored films selected by an important film personality. This section is called Las que importan a... (Those that matter to...) and, in this first edition, the director Fernando Trueba will be in charge of selecting a series of favourite titles that have been recently restored. They can be seen in the (Spanish) Film Academy room from the 23rd of May. 

The fifth section, called Las afueras (The Outskirts), will be hosted in the Doré cinema, home of the The Spanish Film Archive. This space will show restored films that revolve around 'outside the norm' experiences, taking an X-ray of what have been considered (legal, ethical, sexual and racial) dissidences throughout history. The first of these screenings, Smithereens (Susan Seidelman, 1982), took place on the 17th of April on the occasion of the presentation of Cookie Muller's memoirs, with the participation of the screenwriter Valeria Vegas. The rest of the sessions in the series, including the premiere of the new director's cut of Blackhat (Michael Mann, 2015), the 4K restoration of Maldita Generación (The Doom Generation) (Gregg Araki, 1995) and the restoration of the Taiwanese classic Mahjong (Edward Yang, 1996), will be held starting from June in the Doré cinema's summer room.

The last section is called ¡Están vivas! (They are alive!) and will consist of a series of horror films from the eighties that will be hosted by the Getafe Market Area in July. 

The DepolarisingEU network seeks to address this problem by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and developing effective interventions to mitigate undemocratic partisanship. “This initiative represents a crucial step in countering the divisive forces of radical polarisation and strengthening European civil spheres,” says Professor Maria Luengo. “By collaborating with civil and media organisations, we aim to promote pluralism and enhance democratic values in the digital age,” she adds. 

DepolarisingEU will use a multifaceted approach, drawing on cultural sociology and civil sphere theory to provide a regulatory framework for understanding and addressing radical polarisation. Through collaborative research, the network seeks to identify best practices and develop practical tools to effectively counter, redress and prevent radical polarisation. 

“Our goal is to equip people and communities with the necessary skills and knowledge to engage in civil and constructive dialogue,” explains Nadya Jaworsky, a lecturer at Masaryk University (in the Czech Republic) and vice president of this action. “By promoting communication interventions and improving media literacy, we can mitigate the negative impact of digital media on polarisation and promote a more inclusive public discourse”.

Redressing Radical Polarisation: Strengthening European Civil Spheres facing Illiberal Digital Media (DepolarisingEU) is an initiative that started in November 2023 with 23 researchers from 12 countries, although it currently already has over 100 researchers from 34 countries. The project will run for four years, until 2027, when they hope to have made significant contributions to the field of sociology and communication studies.

More information: 

Redressing Radical Polarisation: Strengthening European Civil Spheres facing Illiberal Digital Media (DepolarisingEU) /

“Another notable finding in this work has to do with the production date of the Spanish works that are available within the services. And here what we have been able to confirm is that the vast majority are recent productions, especially in the 2010s,” explains one of the authors of the report, Pedro Gallo, from the Audiovisual Diversity research group in UC3M's Communication Department. “This could have to do with the fact that these companies are not limited exclusively to acquiring and distributing already produced works, but that they seem to be increasingly interested in producing their own works,” says Gallo.

The researchers have also observed that international co-production (considered as 'Spanish works', also films and series produced through agreements with other countries), is also very important among the works available in the catalogues analysed. In this sense, they have found that Argentina and France are the countries with which Spanish works that are available in the Netflix or Amazon Prime Video catalogues, for example, are most frequently produced.

Another concept that this report analyses is the prominence given to Spanish works in the services, that is, some of the mechanisms that determine how easy it is for a user to find certain works and not others. And what it confirms is that such mechanisms for highlighting the presence of Spanish works have ample room for improvement. Netflix is the only service that has sections dedicated to Spanish films and series, which can be accessed via the top navigation bar of the interface (menu) and the carousels on the homepage. In contrast, the rest of the services offer varied results regarding the existence and location of these types of sections.

This report is part of the research project “Diversidad y servicios audiovisuales bajo demanda por suscripción (Diversity and subscription-based on-demand audiovisual services) (ref.: PID2019-109639RB-I00)” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/) and carried out with the support of the Spanish Film University Institute (IUCE-UC3M).

More information: Albornoz, Luis A., García Leiva, María Trinidad, y Gallo, Pedro (2023). Disponibilidad y prominencia de obra española en servicios audiovisuales por suscripción (Availability and prominence of Spanish works in subscription-based audiovisual services). 2023 Edition. Audiovisual Diversity Research Group, 天美传媒, pp. 1-33. ISBN: 978-84-16829-89-7.   

Este análisis verifica el cumplimiento de cuatro principios de transparencia en la web de las universidades: la visibilidad (que al contenido se encuentre en un lugar visible en las páginas web de la institución); la accesibilidad (que la información se haya publicado de forma abierta, sin que sea necesario ningún permiso o registro para consultarla); la actualidad (que los contenidos estén actualizados) y la integralidad (que la información sea completa y exhaustiva).

Este informe recoge los datos de 2023 de las páginas web de 49 universidades públicas y 25 privadas españolas. El sello 't de transparente' es una marca creada por la Fundación Haz con el fin de acreditar el cumplimiento de unos determinados indicadores y principios de transparencia en las webs. Existen tres niveles de cumplimiento: la categoría 't***', que se reserva para las instituciones que cumplen más del 90 % de los indicadores; la 't**', que se otorga a las que alcanzan entre el 80 % y el 89 % de cumplimiento, y la 't*', para las que se sitúan entre el 70 % y el 79 %. 

This analysis verifies compliance with four principles of transparency on the universities' websites: visibility (the content must be visible on the institution's website); accessibility (the information must be published openly, without requiring any permission or registration to view it); relevance (the content must be up to date); and comprehensiveness (the information must be complete and comprehensive).

This report collects 2023 data from the websites of 49 public universities and 25 private Spanish universities. The 't for transparent' seal is a brand created by the Haz Foundation in order to accredit compliance with certain transparency indicators and principles on websites. There are three levels of compliance: the 't***' category, which is reserved for institutions that comply with more than 90% of the indicators; the 't**', which is awarded to those that reach between 80% and 89% compliance, and the 't*', for those between 70% and 79%.

This goal is at the origin of the proposal which involved lecturers from the Social Sciences Department (the aforementioned, as well as Ilke Toygür, I??k Özel and Stefano Battilossi), María Luengo (Communication), Natalia Fabra (Economics), Antonio Estella (Public Law), Ángel Cuevas (Telematics Engineering) and Maria José Álvarez (Business Economics). "Thanks to this interdisciplinary dialogue, the goal is to strengthen the role of citizens, politics and civil society in the European policy-making process in order to be able to address the challenges facing Europe more effectively and inclusively," says Juan Antonio Mayoral.

The centre to be set up within the framework of this €100,000 euro three-year grant has three general objectives. Firstly, to strengthen and promote excellence in teaching and interdisciplinary research in EU studies. Secondly, to promote, expand and consolidate a community of academics and relevant social, political and economic actors for the search for inclusive solutions to current EU challenges. And thirdly, to bring the EU closer to society and to Spanish and European students and young people to promote their participation in the Centre's activities.

Specifically, the following actions are planned, among others: the creation of a European degree and minors in collaboration with the YUFE Alliance; updating the contents of existing bachelor's and master's degree courses in an interdisciplinary way; and the organisation of conferences, workshops and research seminars based on a common agenda on the Europeanisation of Spanish law, economics, politics, media and society.

Jean Monnet Centres of Excellence, proposed and hosted by a higher education institution, are sources of reference and knowledge on EU-related topics. They bring together the experience and skills of high-level experts with the aim of developing synergies between the various disciplines and resources of EU studies. They also play a key role in reaching out to students from faculties that do not normally address EU-related issues, as well as policy makers, civil servants, civil society and the general public.

More information:  

The rector is the university's highest academic and governing authority, responsible for its running and acting as its representative, in addition to chairing the University Senate, the Governing Council, the Board of Directors and the Advisory Board.

Since March 2015, Juan Romo (Madrid, 1959), Professor of Statistics at UC3M, has held the position of President.

More information: UC3M website about the electoral process

All updated information on the electoral process will be publicly accessible on the following website: /eleccionesrector

The President is the university’s highest academic and governing authority, responsible for its running and acting as its representative, in addition to chairing the University Senate, the Governing Council, the Board of Directors and the Advisory Board.

Juan Romo (Madrid, 1959) Professor of Statistics at the University’s Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences, has held the position of UC3M President since March 2015.

Según explican en el comunicado, “los lazos creados entre universidades son académicos y deben elevarse siempre sobre las coyunturas políticas porque lo que nos inspira y mueve es la vocación compartida de construir desde nuestras aulas, laboratorios y bibliotecas un mundo mejor”. Así, señalan que las instituciones académicas son ejemplo de progreso social y humano, de convivencia pacífica y de un mutuo entendimiento que trasciende fronteras y conflictos. “Pero no podemos ser ajenos a lo que ocurre en nuestro entorno, no para ahondar en las diferencias y las tensiones sino para encontrar siempre ese espacio de entendimiento y resolución pacífica de los conflictos”, añaden.

COMUNICADO CONJUNTO

Las universidades somos espacios para la paz y la reflexión. Nuestros lazos académicos deben elevarse siempre sobre las coyunturas políticas porque lo que nos inspira y mueve es la vocación compartida de construir un mundo mejor. Las universidades siempre hemos sido ejemplo de progreso social y humano, de convivencia pacífica y de mutuo entendimiento que ha trascendido las fronteras y los conflictos. Pero no somos, no podemos ser, ajenos a lo que ocurre en nuestro entorno. Nunca para ahondar en las diferencias y las tensiones. Antes al contrario, para encontrar siempre ese espacio de entendimiento y resolución pacífica de los conflictos.

No obstante, la realidad del conflicto bélico desatado en Ucrania no puede ser obviada, y en el marco de las recomendaciones de la Comisión Europea, EUA, CRUE, COSCE y FACME, las universidades que formamos parte de la alianza AURE hemos decidido de mutuo acuerdo suspender la puesta en marcha de nuevas acciones o programas conjuntos, sin perjuicio de la finalización de los ya existentes y ejecutándose, en la esperanza de que la paz llegue y nos permita retomar cuanto antes la que hasta la fecha ha sido una fructífera colaboración entre los miembros de esta alianza estratégica.

Queremos subrayar, a pesar de las circunstancias que todos lamentamos, el papel que las universidades de todo el mundo debemos desempeñar como instituciones comprometidas con la paz y la colaboración académica.

Las universidades espa?olas de la Alianza de Universidades Ruso-Espa?olas (AURE) suspenden de forma temporal las puesta en marcha de nuevas acciones conjuntas

Facilitating the admission of undergraduate students from Ukrainian universities so they can continue their studies at UC3M.

Implementing specific measures so that students in their final year of pre-university education in Ukraine are able to start undergraduate studies at UC3M. In addition, they will have the possibility of accessing bridging and introduction programmes for university studies.

Granting financial aid so they can carry out their studies and free Spanish and English courses at different levels.

UC3M will offer specific financial aid for undergraduate students enrolled at UC3M this academic year, whose family residence is in Ukraine, and who are experiencing economic difficulties due to the war.

For Ukrainian postgraduate students, grants will be awarded for university Master's degree studies with the aim of providing them with the necessary resources to carry out their studies at UC3M.

Regarding research staff, three types of stay will be offered:

• Visiting professor, for their integration as teaching and research staff in UC3M departments.
• Research stays, for their integration into UC3M research groups. 
• Financial support for women researchers and professionals to carry out a research project.

The administration and services staff will be provided with stays for their integration into the University's administrative services.

More information

Ukraine humanitarian crisis donations

We, the undersigned higher education associations, networks, and leaders in the field of scholar protection, urge European governments and EU institutions to take immediate action to secure the lives and careers of Afghanistan's scholars, students, and civil society actors.

Many of the undersigned organisations are leaders in the field of provision of support to researchers and scholars at risk. These include the Scholars at Risk Network (SAR), the PAUSE programme in France, the Philipp Schwartz Initiative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Council for At-Risk Academics and the IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund who arrange temporary positions at higher education institutions around the world for those who are unable to work safely in their home countries. European higher education institutions are at the forefront of these efforts: over the past two years, 80% of positions of safe haven arranged by SAR were in Europe.

Organisations supporting at-risk scholars are racing to offer assistance to researchers, scholars and civil society actors in Afghanistan who, at this moment, are desperately seeking ways to safety. For the better part of the past twenty years these scholars and civil society actors in Afghanistan have fought for a new, rights-respecting, forward-looking, knowledge-based Afghanistan. Many have worked for or in partnership with EU institutions, NATO partners, European governments and other international and civil society organisations. Hundreds travelled to Europe to seek an education and returned to their homeland, dedicated to values of openness tolerance and free expression. These are not the values of the Taliban, so their lives are now at risk. Timely government action can still make an enormous difference. We implore you to act on their behalf now.

Specifically, we seek immediate action from European Governments and EU institutions to:

• Continue evacuation flights for as long as possible so as to include scholars, students, and civil society actors who have supported the forward-looking, pluralist vision of Afghanistan that the EU, European governments, NATO partners and other international and civil society organisations embraced. Do not end flights until all are safely out who wish to leave the country.

• Increase resettlement quotas to help those in need of international protection, including researchers, scholars, and civil society actors. Ensure international protection is provided to current Afghan protection applicants through an expedited process, and prioritise and expedite family reunification applications.

• Create expedited complementary legal pathways for candidates who demonstrate an existing host institution, job, or sponsor, including for families, that would facilitate their arrival and earliest adjustment. Many European higher education institutions are ready to host scholars in temporary positions; capture that opportunity by expediting the processing of individuals for whom they are ready to step forward, and providing logistical support.

• Waive any intent-to-return and home residency requirements that may apply to visa applications for Afghan scholars and researchers for the foreseeable future. Barring full waiver, issue authoritative guidance to consular and border officials supporting a determination of satisfaction of the intent to return by showing a willingness to return in the absence of the Taliban, or a credible, durable and rebuttable demonstration that the individual would be able to return and live safely under the Taliban.

• Establish a dedicated EU fellowship scheme for researchers and scholars at risk, including scholars, students, and civil society actors from Afghanistan, especially women and ethnic and religious minorities, to undertake fellowships, lectureships, researcher positions, or temporary academic positions at European higher education institutions. See the EU-funded Inspireurope project recommendation for a dedicated scheme here. Some funds for such streams might be redirected from existing funds budgeted for Afghanistan programming, but which may not be possible to expend under the current conditions. Nevertheless, new funds will be required to meet the most urgent needs.

• Establish dedicated national fellowships for researchers and scholars at risk, including scholars, students, and civil society actors from Afghanistan, similar to existing national fellowship programmes run by the PAUSE programme in France and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Philipp Schwartz Initiative in Germany.

The window in which to take these steps, save lives, and redeem some measure of Europe’s investment in Afghanistan’s future is rapidly closing. Your urgent intervention is needed to mobilize the relevant departments and agencies.

The eroding situation in Afghanistan poses a threat not only to the lives of our colleagues still in Afghanistan, but to the future of that country. The moral leadership of the European Union including its commitment to human rights, rule-of-law, and multilateralism, is needed now more than ever, and it is imperative to see those commitments put into practice at this time of crisis. The European higher education community is ready to do its part, but we need your help. If we move quickly, we can go a long way towards mitigating the worst of the threats and demonstrate continuing commitment to the future of Afghanistan and its people. 

Urgent appeal to European Governments and EU Institutions: Take Action for Afghanistan’s scholars, researchers, and civil society actors

Another of the centre’s functions is scheduling postgraduate teaching activities, as well as professional specialisation and updating. In this sense, courses, workshops, and training activities related to the University Master’s Degree in Cinema and Television, the UC3M Master’s Degree in Cinema and Television Script, and the University Master’s Degree in Advertising Communication are being planned, with the incorporation of the University Master’s Degree in Transmedia Documentary and Reportage, the UC3M Master’s Degree in Music Industry and Sound Studies, and the UC3M-Vogue Master’s Degree in Fashion Image: Styling and Audiovisual Media.

The Institute also aims to promote the distribution and execution of works and publications about Spanish cinema, which highlight the cultural value of the Spanish film sector. In this context, issues such as equality, technological intervention for accessible cinema, ecology, and migratory behaviour, among others, will be addressed.

The Institute will seek to promote the scientific, technical, artistic, and pedagogical update of its members and the university community, as well as contracting and undertaking scientific, technical, and artistic work with individuals or public or private organisations within the framework of current legislation. The centre will be able to host visiting researchers from universities in Spain and abroad, as well as hire scientific and academic staff to undertake specific, determined, and short-term tasks.  In addition to this, it can accept research staff onto training with undergraduate or postgraduate students who are preparing their PhD and/or postgraduate studies in subjects related to the Institute’s field of research and study.

All of this is produced through a double movement, according to this study. On one hand, assuming that documentary must be a faithful reflection of reality, when it is in fact a narrative with a determined focus. On the other hand, when this supposed truthfulness is extrapolated, attempting to endow and enhance the fictions that use the factualist documentary formulas with the “effect of truth” of the documentary narrative. In this way, they seek to shield the discourse from criticism through an effect of referentiality, alluding to some supposedly objective facts that would have preceded the discourse, when in reality, the effect of truth they incorporate is the result of a discursive operation, and not the other way around: “The discourse of fiction would display a realism based on facts that would convert it into justification for a determined status quo, instead of defending fiction’s critical and subversive potential”, she explained. 

However, this dogmatic form of realism is not the only one possible. The author points out that there has always been a place for “radical anti-dogmatic realism, which politically and artistically questions the dominant institutionalized narratives”. In fact, there are many antecedents of documentaries that have explored this subject in depth through discursive staging of the effects of truth and the myth of “objective reality”.  Some of these include Tierra sin pan (1933) by Luis Buñuel; Night and Fog (1956) by Alain Resnais; Fata Morgana (1971) by Werner Herzog; Met Dieric Bouts (1975) by André Delvaux; Une sale histoire (1977) by Jean Eustache; and Arabescos on the Pirosmani theme (1985) by Sergei Parajanov, among others.

Bibliographic reference: Carrera, Pilar (2021). "Documentary Inscription in Fiction Films", Studies in Documentary Film, 15:1, 1-19, DOI: 10.1080/17503280.2020.1854072

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Version fran?aise (French version)

中文翻譯 (Chinese translation)

According to the authors of the study, 70% of the news analysed complied with directions included in the Spanish Royal Board on Disability’s Style Guide about disability for communication professionals, providing an inclusive image of this group. It has been concluded that the situation in regard to disability in the media is gradually improving, although complete normalisation has not been achieved. Media professionals “should find a balance between reporting using as much data as possible while maintaining a level of respect for those with disabilities, avoiding promoting negative images related to them”, says one of the authors of the study, Gema López Sánchez, predoctoral researcher at CESyA - UC3M.

This research has been based on a methodological triangulation that includes a bibliographic analysis, another quantitative analysis of two hundred digital news outlets from 2019, along with interviews with expert sources. Different factors were taken into account during the analysis of the news, such as the type of media outlet, the journalistic genre of the news, the section in which it is published, the main source, the type of disability represented, and the approach, among other things.

Where can this news be found?

According to the results of this research, information about disability is usually found in the local digital press and local supplements of the national press, most often within the news genre and in the society section, followed by the events section (the latter section is more common for news about individuals). The national media outlets that report the most news about disability are La Vanguardia, 20 Minutos, El Economista and ABC.

In terms of information sources, 38% of the news analysed came from press releases and events organised by organisations with direct links to disability, mainly CERMI (Spanish National Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities) and ONCE (Spanish National Organisation for Blind People). Therefore, organisations and associations put pressure on the media to deal with issues that are relevant to them. On the other hand, 19% of the online newspapers that have the highest amount of news related to disability cited news agencies (Servimedia, EFE and Europa Press) as sources.

Profile of those featured in news about disability

The type of disability that appeared most often in the press within the period studied was intellectual disability, followed by physical disabilities (organic or mobility), sensory disabilities (blindness, deafness and deafblindness) and debilitating mental illness. The latter is the least represented disability, only being mentioned in four of the two hundred information outlets.

Media coverage of disability usually refers to groups, and one led by individuals presents a gender gap in which two out of every three news stories focus on men, without LGBTQ+ representation. Few stories focus on individuals, and in these cases they appear to become spokespeople for their disability or star in news-related events.

López-Sánchez, G., Utray, F. y Ruiz-Mezcua, B. (2020) Representación de la discapacidad en la prensa digital española. Revista Española de la Discapacidad. 8 (2). 33-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5569/2340-5104.08.02.02.

Magallón refers to four relatively distinct misinformation typologies in this context. Firstly, fake news about how the virus was spread; secondly, fake news related to the prevention of the virus; thirdly, fake news referring to legislative and governmental measures, at both a local and global level; and fourthly, he defines “a jumble related to the uncertain context”, including phishing messages to conspiracy theories.

In terms of prevention, it has been observed that messaging systems have played a greater role in misinformation going viral. In fact, the channels where the majority of COVID-19 related fake news has been distributed are social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter (36.1%), and instant messaging applications, such as WhatsApp (36.1%), according to a recent study published by the researcher together with colleagues from the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid in the Spanish Journal Revista Española de Comunicación en Salud.

The new “infonormality”

Normalising misinformation processes, fear as a driving force of information overdose, boredom and fatigue as a mechanism to generate self-protection from information or polarisation as a strategic tool to distort reality are the most obvious problems when it comes to this new “infonormality”, according to the author.

The fight against misinformation does not consist only of preventing it from going viral or making the truth more attractive but is also made up of the ability to quickly generate doubts within the population that encourage them to decide not to share unverified information, the researcher notes in his book. In this context, and during the first few weeks of the pandemic, stopping the spread of misinformation was more important than providing - partial and incomplete - information about the evolution of the crisis, he adds.

More information: 

Magallón Rosa, Raúl (2020). Desinformación y pandemia: la nueva realidad. Madrid, Ed. Pirámide, 2020. ISBN: 978-84-368-4358-3.

Sánchez-Duarte, J.M; Magallón Rosa, R. (2020). Infodemia y COVID-19. Evolución y viralización de informaciones falsas en España. Revista Española de Comunicación en Salud. Suplemento 1, S31-S41 https://doi.org/10.20318/recs.2020.5417

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Version fran?aise (French version)

中文翻譯 (Chinese translation)

This information is available via the Accessible Cultural Agenda (ACA), a comprehensive website and free application for IOS and Android. This tool allows you to check the cultural offerings tailored to those with sensory disabilities, including film screenings, theatre shows, museums and live events, from your smartphone or tablet. In addition to this, the ACA lets you filter your search by region and type of accessibility service: subtitles, audio description, or Spanish sign language (LSE, in its Spanish acronym).

Results from the Autonomous Communities 

According to the results of the ACA 2020, Catalonia offered 2,339 accessible film screenings for those with sensory disabilities, consolidating itself as the Autonomous Community with the highest number of accessible film screenings; closely followed by the Community of Madrid with 2,138 accessible screenings, Andalusia with 1,547, the Valencian Community with 980 and the Canary Islands with 909. The latter has been the only Autonomous Community that has increased its number of accessible screenings during this period. In fact, the Canary Islands has increased its number of accessible screenings by 76% compared to its overall screenings since 2014.

“The pandemic has affected the entire population, but people with disabilities in particular,” says Belén Ruiz Mezcua, director of CESyA and professor at the UC3M’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. “Until 2019, we were optimistic that accessible screenings were here to stay. Now we fear that these services, which ensure that all citizens are included in culture, are in danger,” she adds.

Between January 2014 and now, there have been a total of 340,030 accessible film screenings in Spain. Approximately a third of this total took place in the Community of Madrid, which has offered 103,481 accessible film screenings over the past six years. Catalonia ranks second with 54,862 accessible screenings, followed by Andalusia with 42,369, the Valencian Community with 34,589 and the Basque Country with 31,476. On the other hand, the Balearic Islands came last with only 24 accessible screenings since 2014. 

More information:

Accessible Cultural Agenda website 

Así se ha decidido tras la reunión que han mantenido representantes de la Consejería de Ciencia, Universidades e Innovación con los vicerrectores de las universidades madrileñas, en la que se ha recordado que las modalidades de impartición de docencia y de realización de pruebas de evaluación han sido aprobadas, con plena garantía, por los órganos de gobierno de las universidades.

Tanto la administración autonómica como los rectores han defendido que los campus madrileños son lugares seguros, extremo que se viene demostrando desde el comienzo del curso universitario. En todas las aulas se cumplen unos exigentes criterios y protocolos sanitarios, aprobados por la Comunidad de Madrid, que están resultando muy efectivos.

Además, ambas partes recuerdan que las universidades madrileñas están completamente adaptadas y cuentan con una planificación que les permite el paso de la presencialidad a la educación online de manera inmediata en el caso en que las condiciones sanitarias así lo exigieran.

Las propias universidades, y en particular las facultades, comunicarán a los alumnos las nuevas fechas de aquellos exámenes que tenían que haberse realizado esta semana y que por causas meteorológicas se han tenido que aplazar y reprogramar.

El consejero de Ciencia, Universidades e Innovación, Eduardo Sicilia, ha agradecido a los rectores de las universidades madrileñas la extraordinaria gestión y labor que han tenido que hacer para reprogramar su actividad en la última semana como consecuencia de la borrasca Filomena, a la vez que por la gestión de sus campus en este año tan complicado por la pandemia del COVID- 19. Un agradecimiento que se extiende por haber velado por la salud pública durante estos meses, al tiempo que garantizado el derecho de los universitarios a seguir adelante con sus estudios con los máximos estándares de calidad.

Además, Sicilia ha felicitado también a la comunidad universitaria por haber sido, una vez más, un ejemplo para la sociedad a la hora de haber adaptado su actividad de presencial a remoto en tiempo récord durante esta última semana.

Comunicado de la Comunidad de Madrid sobre la presencialidad de los exámenes  (PDF)

2. Public universities in Madrid planned the 2020-21 academic year, backing the most on-site activity possible whilst complying with the health standards enforced by the Central Government and the Government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, investing economically in adapting their facilities and equipment aimed at meeting the aforementioned health requirements. They have also dedicated large amounts of human and material resources in order to guarantee the university community’s safety on its campuses.

3. Strict protocols established for conducting on-site exams, in addition to strict respect for health standards by each member of the university community, allow essential student assessment activities to take place, guaranteeing the highest level of safety.

4. Conducting on-site exams, as well as their action protocols, has been authorised by the Council of Science, Universities and Innovation and the relevant health authorities and has been approved by the Governing Councils and, where appropriate, the governing bodies of the Faculties and Schools at the six public universities.

5. The CRUMA universities will pay particular attention to vulnerable students by providing assessment protocols that are tailored to their particular needs.

6. The public universities of Madrid have no authority in public health matters and therefore the suspension of on-site activities (teaching and examinations) for health reasons must be established, if necessary, by the competent, relevant authorities.

Announcement from the Conference of Public University Presidents in Madrid on the conducting of on-site exams (PDF)

In addition to this, during the day, a theatrical webinar will take place at 11am, organised by the UC3M Arts Classroom and aimed at higher education centres, titled: “How can research and performing arts help you communicate better?” Different performing arts tools will be presented that can be used to improve communication in various fields, from interpersonal relationships to video conferences. After this, various lecturers from the University will share some key elements for improving communication from the field of audio-visual communication, history, sound and telematic engineering, or journalism.

From 5pm to 8pm, four webinars and online workshops, offered in Spanish and English, will be conducted by teams of researchers participating in European scientific projects at the UC3M that will address various topics, such as: “Your smartphone knows how you feel: emotions and the digital age”, “Learning about genetic editing for good through immersive technologies”, “Discovering a science shop: A participatory experience”, and “What do you know about 5G?”

These UC3M actions are part of the European Researchers’ Night, an event comprised of various free activities of scientific dissemination and which has been held simultaneously in more than 300 European cities since 2005. In Madrid, this project is promoted by the Ministry of Science, Universities and Innovation, coordinated by the Madri+d Foundation and funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie actions, with grant agreement number 953.820. Its main objectives are bringing the researcher and the general public closer together, so that they can understand their work and their benefits to society, promoting scientific vocations among students and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit.

More information:  The European Researchers’ Night at the UC3M Website

The average age of the 59 grant holders selected in this call is 38.5 years old. In terms of the geographical distribution of the work centres, they are divided among 13 autonomous communities: 17 have been awarded to residents in Madrid, 11 in Catalonia, 10 in Andalusia, 5 in the Basque Country and Galicia, and the rest are distributed among Aragon, the Canary Islands, Castile-La Mancha, Castile and León, the Valencian Community, Murcia, and La Rioja.

Projects from the UC3M

Miguel Artola Blanco is a Postdoctoral researcher “Juan de la Cierva” at the UC3M’s Department of Social Sciences. His research project seeks to open up a new perspective into the study of the Interwar period by exploring the relationship between inequality and the triumph (or failure) of democracies. He is researching three countries (Spain, the United States and France) with different trajectories and who had different experiences of solutions during this period. The research focuses on the middle and working classes, understanding that they were key actors in the changes that occurred in these decades. It aims to connect three areas that have been studied separately thus far: the economic changes that these groups experienced, the stability (or bankruptcy) of each of these political regimes, and the new institutional framework of social and labour policies.

Stefano Discetti is aLecturer at the UC3M’s Department of Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering. His research focuses on techniques for improving the aerodynamic efficiency of methods of transport, which are responsible for approximately 29% of the total CO2 emissions generated by humans. Given that a large percentage of the energy needed to travel is due to aerodynamic resistance, his project proposes tapping into advances in Artificial Intelligence in order to achieve real-time closed loop control of aerodynamic flows. The research will consist of two parts: a theoretical study and computational simulations of learning techniques for their application in fluid mechanics and adapting these automatic learning strategies to experimental environments.

Eva Herrero Curiel is a Lecturer of Journalism at the UC3M’s Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication. Her research project will study how teachers in secondary and further education in Spain work with their students from the perspective of the media: what they teach them, the methodology they use, and their perceptions of the students’ use of media and social media. Once the information has been collected, proposals will be made to implement actions within curricula that will help promote media literacy among students in order to foster a more critical thinking and consumption of media and the information they generate. According to international studies, 64% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 around the world consider digital media (including social media) their main source of information.

Violeta Ruiz Almendral is a Lecturer of Financial and Tax Law at the UC3M’s Department of Public State Law. Her project aims to investigate the constitutional system of distributing powers between the state, autonomous communities, and local bodies in terms of financial and tax matters, considering the current model designed by the Spanish Constitution and integration into the European Union, as well as its evolution in practice. The research will analyse the dynamic functioning of the constitutional system of territorial financing, and the implications the system has on financial powers - both those relating to income (taxes and duties) as well as expenses (flows that make up the local and regional financing systems) and examining the main judicial questions raised through an examination of disputes,mainly in the courts (Court of Justice of the European Communities and Constitutional Court).

The project, in addition to locating the scenes, analyzes them according to their length, revealing Gran Via as the street with the most cinematographic presence, followed by Cibeles, the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta de Alcala. However, certain changes can be perceived over time:  as new urban spaces have been created, the number of these film settings have diminished. “As the city has grown, attention has shifted to other areas, also due to cinema’s commitment to narrating different stories.  With “Cine Quinqui” (Petty Thief Cinema) in the 1970’s, and later as of the 2000’s, the city’s periphery began to be represented from a more social perspective, and accordingly other small icons emerged, such as the area of “Las Colmenas”  (The Beehives)  in Ciudad Lineal, constituting a symbol of the peripheral city,” pointed out by Paula Bordonada, PhD student in the UC3M Department of Communication.

“Film conditions the collective imagination associated with geographic space, but also contributes to giving unknown or lesser-known urban or natural locales greater visibility, so that they become known to the populace. This generates a different kind of link between residents and their communities fomenting niche tourism, and in some way it can serve as an incentive for its maintenance or improvement,” explained the Geocine principal investigator, Carlos Manuel Valdés, professor in the UC3M Department of Humanities, History, Geography and Art. 

The research team has worked with more than 300 films and identified and georeferenced more than 2,000 scenes which are the source for the web map viewer included in the project webpage. To locate films shot in the Madrid Regional Community, they use information published by IMDb, film offices and specialized bibliography along with full viewing of the films.  “The inventory depends a good deal on the film’s repercussions, information provided by the production teams or the date of shooting, so that quite often we see new films being added,” Valdés concluded.

Currently, the research group is examining the presence of other Spanish cities in audiovisual fiction and undertaking specific studies, such as analyzing Spanish movies filmed in the Lavapiés neighborhood throughout history, or how specific settings, such as the Plaza de Cascorro and Ribera de Curtidores street, are established as symbols of the neighborhood itself and of the traditional and authentic Madrid.

中文翻譯 (Chinese translation)

Teaching activity

In general, online teaching will be completed on 22nd May 2020.  Exams in ordinary session will take place from the 25th may to the 9th June and exams in extraordinary session will take place from the 22nd June to the 10th July. The time period in which external internships, language exams and the certificate for the end of studies theses will take place and be assessed has been extended until the 31st October 2020.

Experimental laboratory lessons which were not completed when on-site teaching was suspended shall be completed through the development of virtual projects, practical activities in simulation environments, case analyses or via other distance learning activities that allow the acquisition of the expected skills and learning outcomes. 

Assessment Criteria 

Due to the special circumstances of this course, the adaptation to the assessment systems initially planned by increasing the importance of continuous assessment in the final subject grade is recommended. Final assessments which take place off-site may consist of submitting essays, projects, case studies, problems, etc., as well as synchronous and oral exams.

The student may decline to sit an exam and obtain a waiver of convocation, if requested, for reasons justified by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Online Doctoral Defence 

The Director of the Postgraduate School may authorise doctoral thesis defence via video conferencing, at the reasoned request of the doctoral student with the approval of the Programme’s Academic Committee, in accordance with the procedures stated in the Instruction from the 13th March 2020, which guarantees access to video conferencing for anyone interested, the accreditation of the identity of the doctoral candidate with due guarantees and the jury’s deliberation without public presence, as well as a secret vote of the mention cum laude.

More information: 

Information and measures related to COVID-19 

This kind of formula allows to introduce the rhetoric and effects of documentary and informative discourses into the territory of fiction. In fact, in the case of documentaries there is, in terms of meaning, one more turn of the screw, presupposing not only that the story being told is based on real events, but that this is directly the reality: "This is obviously a false assumption; in a documentary there is as much mise en scene than in fiction and the rhetorical mechanisms used to generate effects of truth should not be confused with a supposed pre-discursive truth," indicates Pilar Carrera.

The fictional story that is said to be "based on true events" supports the discourse on values characteristic of fiction with the effect of documentary truth ("factual truth"), the book notes. All of this is done without assuming the responsibilities or potential sanctions that come with the assumption of true-saying in documentary or informational terms: the 'based on’ or 'inspired in’ introduce a nuance that presupposes the possibility of inaccuracy or a margin for 'free interpretation' and 'error'. In short, it suggests that something is true and, at the same time, that if it is not, nothing happens, since, in the end, it is a fiction.

In recent times we see a progressive shift from fiction to the rhetorical space of the documentary, according to Carrera. This goes far beyond the classic use of fragments of documentaries, reports, newsreels or photographs in fiction films to give them a plus of verisimilitude. "The formula 'based on actual facts' affects the reception of fiction as a whole and its political and cultural dimension without the need to resort to archival material," she says in the essay.

Many series are adopting a documentary look, as it is the case of Chernobyl (HBO, 2019), in which the search for a systematic confusion between fiction and document is evident to the extent that the series is presented as follows: Based on an untold true story. "Although a fiction, Chernobyl is consumed, in many ways, as a documentary. Probably, when people see it, they think they are knowing the truth about what happened, when, in reality, we are dealing with an extremely conventional story in terms of narrative and with limited value in terms of historical understanding," says Pilar Carrera.

The ideological and political effects of this type of fictional historical account should not be underestimated, according to the essay, because of its ability to shape the social imaginary. "Fiction, and especially serial fiction, to which a large part of the population dedicates a great amount of time that directly prevents or substantially reduces the consumption of other kind of stories, is very powerful, generating emotional attachment and, as a consequence, adherence to the thesis that underlies the interpretation of the events being undertaken and which is intended to be concealed by appealing to 'actual facts'," the essay concludes.

In the book "Based on true events", Carrera analyzes other issues that are framed in what she calls "society without spectacle". In this context, topics such as the emergence of the fake, post-truth, the relations between discourse and action, as well as other aspects –the relations between photography and politics, the dominant discourses on Europe or on motherhood– are dealt with. Ultimately, its aim is to show, from different angles, the logic on which the digital imaginary is forged and its implications for the individual, the citizen and the functioning of democracy.

Bibliographical reference: Carrera, Pilar (2020). Basado en hechos reales: mitologías mediáticas e imaginario digital, Ediciones Cátedra, Colección +Media, Madrid, Spain. ISBN: 978-84-376-4102-7

中文翻譯 (Chinese translation)

According to the results of the ACA from 2019, Madrid offered 24,304 cinema sessions adapted for people with sensory disabilities and became established as the autonomous community with the greatest offer of adapted cinema, followed by Catalonia with 17,174 accessible sessions, Andalusia with 12,508, the Valencian Community with 11,829 and the Basque Country with 6,475. 

In 2019, the screening offer with services adapted for blind and/or deaf people has increased by 1.71 per cent, that is to say, 1,507 accessible screenings more than in 2018. “Accessibility has come to stay”, states Belén Ruiz Mezcua, general manager of the CESyA and professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the UC3M. “In 2014, when we founded the ACA, there were only around 5,000 accessible screenings. Now there are nearly 85,000 more sessions and the figure increases each year”, she adds.

From January 2014 to December 2019, there were a total of 332,957 adapted cinema sessions in Spain. Approximately a third of this total corresponds to the Community of Madrid which, in the last five years, has held 101,343 accessible screenings. Catalonia takes second place with 52,523 screenings, followed by Andalusia with 40,822, the Valencian Community with 33,609 and the Basque Country with 30,983. On the other hand, the smallest figure corresponds to the Balearic Islands with 24 screenings since 2014, followed by Cantabria, Murcia, Extremadura, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, where there are still no accessibility services.

More information: 

We have proposed a program of activities at the University on Friday the 27th of September aimed at all audiences. In the evening, at 7:30pm on the UC3M’s Madrid-Puerta de Toledo campus, there will be an interdisciplinary round table entitled “Science and Fiction: crossed paths, from George Méliès to Blade Runner 2044”. During this discussion, different issues related to science fiction, not just from the strictly cinematographic point of view, but also from a socio-political dimension will be explored. There will also be various workshops related to research developed under R+D+I European Projects of the UC3M.   

What sort of subjects will these workshops cover?

They will cover a wide range of topics, from how mobile communications work or how antennae will be used with 5G to the revolution that we are on the verge of in the world of 3D printing, with the possibility of experimenting live to show how some technology related to these fields of study works. In addition, the subject of science fiction will be addressed in other workshops, such as an activity carried out by aerospace engineers in which they will analyse the extent to which films reflect certain scientific developments and technologies or in another workshop, there will be an in depth look into the impact that science fiction films have on research and scientific imagination, particularly the titles used by academics when they come to write their works.  

What is the most enriching part of participating in the Night? 

To get closer to research from a different, fun, and eminently interdisciplinary perspective. It is also interesting to speculate about the effect of the activities aimed at secondary schools pupils and the potential of awakening their vocations. In this sense, the UC3M has prepared a theatrical show in the morning on the same day aimed specifically at secondary and bachillerato (A-Level) level pupils, that explores the relationship between science and art through various presentations by researchers from the UC3M and a show by the artist Cris Blanco, a blend of concert and “performance” conference with a reflection on science and fiction.  

What gave birth to your research vocation? When and why did you decide you wanted to be a researcher?

I think my vocation, as with many others, in reality has to do with a very primitive instinct that always links back to the tenderest infancy: the curiosity of everything around us. I can’t name a moment in which I decided that I was going to dedicate myself to research. This curiosity has always accompanied me and I suppose I followed its course as I have considered it more opportune and interesting for me. 

What importance does divulgation have to you on a day to day basis? 

Contrary to what it seems, divulgation is a very difficult art. Making the complex or specialised intelligible does not just consist of diluting or simplifying the message, but searching for other forms of representation, other languages, which allow it to be accessed by non-experts.

What would you say to young people to encourage them to follow a career in research? What would you say to the girls and young women who don’t think science is for them?

I think young people, women or men, should have complete freedom to choose what they want. It is not more commendable to study Engineering over Philosophy, Audiovisual Communication or Law. Another thing, of course, is that women should consider which option will be as equally appreciated as it is gratifying for them. That being said, so that young people can choose freely, we must break away from many of the cliché workplace discriminations that are still clearly active in our society today and often govern that choice. 

What opinion do you think citizens have of scientists? Do you feel it is a recognised and valued profession? 

I think so, but I also think that the image of scientists is highly stereotyped and associated with set disciplines. A more holistic view of knowledge and science is becoming more necessary every day. I believe it is there, in this broadening of horizons, where there is serious work to be done. 

Do you think Europe gives sufficient support to research?

I suppose everything is open to improvement, even the good things, and here I again emphasise the same: the need for more support, starting from a more encompassing conception of knowledge and science and, definitely more open to disciplines of a humanistic nature.  

To finish off, we have some short questions:

What are your hobbies? 

Observing things the way my son does, watching films, going running, writing, reading, researching, working, chatting...

If you could travel in time, which moment in history would you go to? 

This one.

Recommend me a book.

Don Quixote, of course!

What is the last film you watched? 

"Heaven’s Gate", by Michael Cimino, which has become a compulsory monthly appointment for me over the last few years. 

And what is the last concert you attended?

Better than the last concert, I will name a reunion with a live recording: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 by Carlos Kleiber. The second movement is simply beautiful.

More information: 
“Science and fiction: crossed paths, from George Méliès to Blade Runner 2044”
European Night of the Researchers of Madrid 2019 of the UC3M 
7:30Pm to 9pm, Friday 27th of September 2019
Assembly Hall on the Madrid-Puerta campus of the UC3M 
Book online:

Durante el mes de julio, l天美传媒 ofrece también el programa de verano tecnológico ?Tecnocamp?, dirigido a estudiantes de 3º y 4º de secundaria y 1º de  bachillerato, que impartirán profesores de l天美传媒 en las instalaciones de la Escuela Politécnica Superior durante las dos primeras semanas de julio. ?Tecnocamp? cumple este  año su cuarta edición y recibe a 100 estudiantes procedentes de diferentes comunidades, interesados en la robótica, la ciberseguridad, el diseño 3D, la bioimpresión, el diseño de estructuras,  la electrónica, la creación de apps, etc. Se trata de una experiencia de acercamiento a las profesiones STEM (siglas en inglés de Ciencias, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas) en un entorno distendido y ameno. 

Con estas dos propuestas, l天美传媒 tiende un puente a los estudiantes de secundaria para  que descubran la universidad y profundicen en las materias que les interesan. Esta formación pretende despertar vocaciones, ampliar sus conocimientos y fomentar la  participación, el emprendimiento y la curiosidad.

Más información:

Some of the results of this line of research can be found in a book,"Mass Producing European Cinema: Studiocanal and Its Works" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019). He adds that with films such as Lucy, The Impossible and Paddington, European studios are reaching unprecedented levels in terms of global impact.

This study, in addition to examining and documenting some of the most significant films and series that Studiocanal and its peers have made over the last thirty years, analyses the artistic and commercial dynamics of the international film industry. "This enables us to reflect on the very idea of European cinema, which has often been theorised as an artisanal industry which values art over commercial concerns," says Meir.

One of the main conclusions of Meir´s research is that European cinema increasingly resembles that of Hollywood. In fact, "it replicates American forms and has many similarities, such as the increasing use of the English language and personnel from the United States and Britain, which means that productions can be mistaken as being American even if they are directed by Spanish or other European directors,” he explains. 

According to Meir,  this transformation of the European film industry “will mean more job opportunities in Europe in the world of film and television, as well as increasing the internal production of other films and series that can introduce viewers to other local cultures," he says.

Bibliographic reference: Meir, C. (2019). Mass Producing European Cinema: Studiocanal and Its Works. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN-13: 978-1501327124

中文翻譯 (Chinese translation)

This term is used to refer to supposedly having moved beyond a previous state, in which, it seems truth was the norm, to legitimize certain procedures that, in the opinion of the author, are much more related to the realm of power than that of truth.  “If I say that we are in a moment of post-truth, it means that the moment of truth has preceded it. Saying this is a bit brazen, because the era preceding post-truth was not truth, and even less so in terms of mass media, which are tainted with interests that up to a certain point result in all information and discourse having some sort of agenda”.

If we take a look at the definition of post-truth from the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy), we realize that the phenomenon is hardly anything new: ‘Deliberate distortion of a reality, which manipulates beliefs and emotions, with the aim of influencing public opinion and social attitudes’. “However, there is evidently something new.  And what is new, is precisely, that the intention is for this phenomenon to be something new. Stating it like that has the effect, among other things, of focusing attention on secondary phenomena from the systemic point of view, such as the so-called fake news, which is undoubtedly much less dangerous and efficient in terms of manipulation than what continues to be accepted as true news,” Professor Carrera noted.  

Origin of the term

When we make reference to ‘foundational facts’ in the era of post-truth, we talk about Brexit and Donald Trump, that is, referring to events and persons that are directly linked with the sphere of political power, the study asserts.  It is maintained, for example, as a show of proof of the existence of post-truth, that the validity of classic evidence (for example, recordings, photographs, etc.) has fallen into disuse, and it seems that Donald Trump does not even blush when denying something that has in fact been recorded or photographed. “At no time is the fragile standing of evidence such as a recording or photograph, whether analog or digital, called into question,” the researcher pointed out.

The notion of post-truth and other related issues (such as fake news) have flourished in the shadow of the Internet and the supposed overabundance of information attributed to it.  It is said, in part, that is due to unofficial sources speaking, to the fact that everyone is commenting, resulting in chaos. The article nuances and questions this attribution of responsibilities: “We are blaming the user when normally it is the viralizer and not the generator of contents.  Who finally ends up achieving virality is not the everyday citizen, but rather this is the result of very well-planned-out strategies that require their being performed through certain institutions,” added Professor Carrera.

This research likewise reflects upon the role that the media assume when carrying out fact-checking as a solution for combatting post-truth. This “crusade against falsehood” can be interpreted also as part of a media simulacra, according to the author. When the antidote for post-truth is sought, it often refers to facts, as if they were entities preexistent to discourse and interpretation:  “The majority of times, what we call “facts” are, in reality, ‘discursive facts’ or fragments of mediation which actually make up the so-called non-fictional (journalistic or documentary) discourse”, commented Pilar Carrera. “Lies, in the media environment, are not refuted by ‘facts’, but rather by arguments and documents.”

For many decades now, from the area of Communication Theory, it is been said that news  is tainted by interests and as such has an agenda, a point of view and a focus. “Making news that is not fake news into absolute truths is dangerous.  No news is transparent, and all news, beginning with that which is taken to be true, must be read as a discursive product, as stories and accounts always subject to interpretation and tainted by interests of diverse types, not as ‘facts’”.

Bibliographic references:

Carrera, Pilar (2018): “Estratagemas de la posverdad”. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, pp. 1469 a 1482.

eArchivo UC3M (english):

Versión en chino (Chinese version)

In general, the majority of researchers (65.4%) perceive some type of benefit after having their research results published. “The most common benefit that they point to is that, thanks to these communication campaigns, their research becomes more known to other fellow researchers in Spain (46.5% of the cases), which can then lead to an increase in citations of their academic work by these colleagues. This is precisely one of the factors that determines the quality of a scientific article,” explained one of the study’s authors, Francisco Javier Alonso Flores, who is head of the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC+i) that pertains to the UC3M Office of the Vice-President for Culture and Communication. In addition, one out of four researchers (27.2%) received requests to give talks on their related subjects after their work appeared in the communication media. Furthermore, one out of five (20.9%) were contacted by companies interested in their line of research, “which can improve synergy with industrial and business sector.”

As for any possible negative effects, a large majority of the researchers (84.7%) did not perceive that there were any. Specifically, fewer than one in ten of those surveyed (8.1%) felt that the communication media had distorted or incorrectly interpreted the research news.  In general, the majority of the researchers (68.6%) stated that the communication media informs and represents the subjects they deal with well (42%) or very well, (26.6%), giving the journalists’ work a high score (7.7 out of 10). “Two out of three researchers (66.9%) think that information provided in the communication media on subjects related to specialized R+D+i  in the past decade has improved. The vast majority (96.1%) believe that this type of specialized journalism is essential to properly deal with this kind of content,” observed Carolina Moreno Castro, one of the study’s authors and Full Professor of Journalism in the Department of Theory of Languages and Communication Sciences at the Universidad de Valencia.

“After carrying out statistical processing on all the responses and variables, we have found a significant difference in the opinion of those researchers who have participated in communications actions as opposed to those who have not done so.  Those who have participated tend to rate the work of the university communicators and the communication media journalists more highly,” observed, Antonio Eleazar Serrano López, another of the study’s authors. Serrano Lopez is a professor in the UC3M Department of Library Science and Documentation, and a member of the Research Institute for Higher Education and Science (INAECU).

This study is based on responses from over 500 researchers in 20 Spanish public universities: Alcalá, Alicante, Autónoma de Barcelona, Autónoma de Madrid, Barcelona, Carlos III de Madrid, Complutense de Madrid, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén, Jaume I de Castellón, Málaga, Oviedo, Politécnica de Madrid, Politécnica de Valencia, Rey Juan Carlos, Rovira y Virgili, Sevilla, Valencia and  Zaragoza.

Available in e-Archive:

Bibliographic references:

La publicación de noticias sobre los resultados de I+D+i. ¿Cómo es percibida por los investigadores españoles? Alonso-Flores, Javier; Serrano-López, Antonio Eleazar; Moreno-Castro, Carolina. InMediaciones de la comunicación, Vol. 13, Nº. 2, 2018, págs. 115-140.

Versión en chino (Chinese version)

The U-Ranking 2019 presents the seventh edition of the Synthetic Indicators of Spanish Universities (ISSUE), in which 62 universities, 48 public and 14 private ones, are assessed.

The ranking works with 25 indicators related to quality, internationalization, output and resources available. In teaching, aspects such as the evaluation rate and the success rate, the number of faculty members per student, and the number of international students are taken into account. In research, doctoral theses defended, the number of citations per article, the mean impact, and the percentage of articles with international co-authorship are assessed. In innovation and technological development, income for continuing professional development, the number and quality of patents, together with income from international contracts are evaluated.

In order to carry out these campaigns, the messages are sent out to Facebook users based on various factors, such as their gender, location or political allegiance. What has been proven is that this micro-targeted advertising on social media was highly effective in persuading undecided voters to support Trump as well as in convincing Republican supporters to turn out on polling day.

In particular, it increased the probability that a non-aligned voter would decide to vote for candidate Trump by at least five percentage points, according to the results of the study. On the other hand, “the results show that Clinton did not manage to increase support among her potential natural voters nor boost their participation in the elections. Unfortunately, we do not have the necessary data to be able to understand why it worked for Trump and not for Clinton”, two of the authors of the paper point out, Ángel and Rubén Cuevas, researchers from the UC3M Telematics Engineering department. This disparity shows there are other variables to consider in addition to the presence of social media.

In Trump’s case, the impact of the campaign was strongest among voters who used Facebook regularly, those who used this social media as their main source of news and among voters without university or college-level education. Specifically, political micro-targeting was particularly effective when based on ideology, gender or educational level, much less so when based on race or age. “Our results show that learning about politics on Facebook does not make voters more informed, but does make them less likely to change their voting choice, which is very in line with the concept of political polarisation. This effect is particularly visible among men, Republican voters and people with a low level of education”, confirms one of the authors of the paper, Federica Libernini, from the ETH Zurich department of Economy, Technology and Business Management.

The results of this study have recently been presented at various international conferences, such as the held in October at the Universidad Libre de Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). “This paper contributes to an incipient body of literature that is using Facebook data, in a completely privacy-preserving manner, as a novel and highly valuable data source to address important socio-economic questions”, add Ángel and Rubén Cuevas.

“Thanks to predictive analytics, companies like Facebook offer a toolkit for targeting voters at an extremely granular level based on their previous online behaviour. These online campaign channels are potentially very powerful political instruments. It is therefore vital that we understand how political campaigns on social media work, their impact on voter behaviour, and, ultimately, on election results”, comments another of the authors of the paper, Michela Redoano, Associate Professor in the University of Warwick Department of Economics.

Another of the researchers from this multidisciplinary team, Antonio Russo, from the previously mentioned ETH Zurich department, points out that Facebook’s impact on turnout “suggests that social media has great potential for stimulating the political participation of people who would otherwise have lost interest in politics. In a world where confidence in democracy is dwindling, I believe this is good news. However, we still have much to learn about whether the information that voters are exposed to on social media really helps them make informed choices".

This research project used mainly two sources of data. On the one hand, they obtained directly from Facebook the cost of displaying advertising on the platform according to the different demographic factors and the political position (conservative, liberal or moderate) of the targeted users of an advertising campaign. On the other hand, they used results from election interviews carried out by American National Election Studies (ANES) on 2414 voters who were interviewed before and after the 2016 North American presidential elections. In this case, they were asked about their political ideology, gender, educational level, age and other data, as well as who they were voting for at both points in time. In addition, they were asked about their use of Facebook in order to find out if they were exposed to the electoral adverts on it. This data was then crossed-referenced and the results were analysed.

Versión en chino (Chinese version)

During the opening, the president of the UC3M, Juan Romo, stated that it is a masters that is “necessary and of great public relevance” and that agency journalists “should be aware of the power they hold”. “I am convinced that this masters will become a benchmark postgraduate degree within its field, which will always aim to defend the public role of journalism and university”, he pointed out, highlighting that “we are ultimately the ones responsible for the stories we tell”.

For his part, the president of the EFE Agency, Fernando Garea, encouraged the students to learn everything they can during their education and be passionate about their work, despite “times of difficulty” the profession may go through: “You are all going to learn to practice a wonderful activity for which you must take risks and suffer, but you will also enjoy yourselves”. “You have to help us to reinvent journalism”, he concluded.

The academic director of the masters, Pilar Carrera, highlighted the importance of training agency journalists with a “deep theoretical and critical knowledge of the environment they work in”, which will help them to “practice independent, quality journalism”.

Rosario Pons, technical director of the Masters and director of EFE School, said the presence of Latin-American students on the course means completing the circle “that starts with the recognisable impact EFE has on this continent, and how this way it comes back into the control of young Latin-American journalists who complete their education with us”. For her part, the head of the Postgraduate area of the Fundación Carolina, Paula Alonso, advised the students to make the most of this “unique opportunity”.

Prior to the opening, Romo and Garea signed the collaboration agreement between the two institutions for the organisation, management and carrying out of the master. This training programme also relies on collaboration from Canon, who supplies materials for the photography module.

With the launch of this master, the UC3M, one of the top 30 young universities in the world according to the QS ranking, and EFE, the top Spanish news agency with a worldwide network of journalists who work from more than 180 cities in 120 countries, unite forces to contribute to the specialised training in quality news journalism.

This call consists of two types: 50 “UC3M Grants Access”, each with 1,000 euros of funding and aimed at students from any autonomous community with the best entry grades and 27 “Scholarships Destination UC3M”, each with 2,000 euros of funding, the aim of which is to facilitate the move and settling of the students with the best entry grades coming from communities other outside Madrid.

Maria Luisa González-Cuéllar has highlighted the acknowledgement these 77 grants mean for the excellent academic career the grant-holders have fulfilled during baccalaureate studies. She has emphasised “the importance of a ceremony like today’s for the UC3M, where work well-done and the efforts of these youths are commended, who are an example for our society”.

Susana García Espinel congratulated the recipients of these grants for their efforts and encouraged them to continue working as hard: “You are all the future and at Santander we understood years ago that the best investment for future is investment in education and we recognise the value of talent and innovation. We want to support you hand in hand with universities, hand in hand with the Universidad Carlos III, committed to boosting joint programmes which acknowledge academic excellence, but which also promote equal opportunities and social inclusion”.

This year, the University has received a total of 719 applications, 273 for the Scholarships Destination and 446 for the Grants Access. The grants have been awarded to students with an entry grade above 13,660. For the awarding of the Scholarships Destination, the income of the student’s family unit has been evaluated, with the aim of developing a programme which also encourages values of fairness and equal opportunities. In total, the students who have been awarded them come from 12 autonomous communities.

The recipients of these grants will be able to join the Buddy Programme. Through this UC3M programme, students in their first year can count on the support of buddies from higher years who accompany and tutor them with the purpose of facilitating their integration into university life. As of their second year, they themselves will take part in the programme as tutors, helping new students with their own experience.

The UC3M is an innovative public university, committed to improving society through cutting-edge research and high quality teaching, in accordance with the strictest international guidelines. It is the top Spanish university and the 22nd worldwide in the QS ranking of the 50 best universities in the world which are less than 50 years old and it is included in the THE World University Rankings. It is also a leader in the Erasmus+ programme’s student mobility ranking.

Santander Bank is strongly dedicated to Higher Education which it brings to life through Santander Universidades. It is the private company which is the largest investor in the support of Education in the world (Report Varkey/UNESCO–Fortune 500) and maintains, through and Universia, more than 1,200 collaboration agreements with academic universities and institutions in 21 countries. Since 2002, the entity has allocated more than 1,600 million euros to academic initiatives and programmes.

For more information: Ayudas y becas de l天美传媒 para nuevos estudiantes

At the multimedia level, the videos complementing the R+D+i contents have also increased in the number of video views:  approximately 102,700 in 2017 (78,774 in YouTube and 23,948 in social networks) compared to 73,000 in 2016 (27,781 in YouTube and 45,255 in social networks), which represents an increase of more than 40 percent.

National and international dissemination

The news items published by the OIC have made headlines in top newspapers such as ABC, El Mundo, El País and La Vanguardia and have been picked up by the main news agencies like EFE and Europa Press. On average, each UC3M R+D+i news item has appeared in 68 communication media and other webs.

In addition, UC3M publishes these news releases in diverse national platforms specialized in this type of content, such as the madri+d  system Notiweb bulletin of the Madrid Regional Community, the Agencia de Noticias para la divulgación de la Ciencia y Tecnología (The News Agency for the dissemination of Science and Technology) from the  Instituto de Estudios de la Ciencia y la Tecnología –DiCYT (The Institute of Scientific and Technological Studies) and the Servicio de Información y Noticias Científicas –SINC- (Scientific News and Information Service) of the  Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología –FECYT- (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology).

At the same time, the internationalization of the communications has had notable repercussions thanks to the publication of contents in English and Chinese in platforms such as the European research news service, AlphaGalileo and the online global service for scientific, medical and technological news of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, EurekAlert!

Accordingly, this report gathers impacts in a wide range of countries on five continents: Europe (Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, United Kingdom…), America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States, Honduras, Mexico, Venezuela...), Asia (Bahrain, China, the United Emirates, Japan, India, Malaysia, among others), Africa (Kenya, Morocco and South Africa, among others) and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand...).

The  OIC from the UC3M Office of the Vice-rector for Communication and Culture is linked to the Oficinas de Información Científica (Offices of Scientific Information) network of the Madrid Regional Community and the  Red de Unidades de Cultura Científica e Innovación - UCC+i (the Network of Scientific Culture and Innovation), with support from the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología -FECYT- (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Further Information:

Report on the tracking of web and communication media impact of R+D+i news for 2017. Author: Oficina de Información Científica/Servicio de Comunicación Institucional. Vicerrectorado de Comunicación y Cultura de l天美传媒.

Versión en chino (Chinese version)

To obtain these grants, candidates must be a Spanish national, be enrolled in the final year of a bachelor’s degree course in Journalism and/or Audiovisual Communication with a minimum of 30 credits to be studied, be fluent in Spanish and the language or co-official language of the autonomous region, have a good academic record and a B2 level of English or the language where the grant is carried out.

This financial aid includes a studies grant worth 650 euros a month for each of the first nine months and 1,300 euros for each of the nine months of the international internship, in addition to a travel stipend of 500 euros for European destinations and 1,000 euros for other destinations, plus multi-assistance travel insurance, among other benefits.

La Caixa has sponsored these grants in collaboration with the Agencia EFE since 2005 to support the education of young journalists. Since then, 261 grants have been awarded.

Generally speaking, the road movie is one of the most representative film genres of American culture. However, as an audiovisual continuation of literary tradition’s initiation journey, this type of narrative has been adapted by filmmakers throughout the world.  It is, as such, an ideal format for analyzing its adaptation to cultures alien to the western prototype or that which is typically American.  In my case, I am undertaking a comparative analysis of the generic conventions of road movies produced in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

What is it about this genre that attracts you?

I am especially attracted by its parallelism with the legend of the “wandering Jew”, with life itself, with human beings in search of their origins, the meaning of existence, and with a destiny.  Secondly, reflection upon these themes and their representation in film, because of their being inherent to any culture, are a universal topic both historically and geographically. For that reason, the road movie seems to be an ideal format for researching the similarities and differences, globally speaking. 

What can a road movie tell us about a society?

Most of the time, the protagonist’s identity crisis reflects the identity crisis of culture or a nation, strictly speaking.  The script is a reflection of the era, its controversies, problems and issues.  It is film genre whose narration understands the road trip as a cultural critique and as a search for identity, be it for the individual, society or the country itself.

What methodology do you employ in your research?

It is a balance between the concepts of a national cinema and transnational/post-national cinema to locate deterritorializaton and re-territorialization trends in the Deleuze sense, in the narration as well as the visual esthetic.  My focus is multi-disciplinary, based on mixed methods. I basically combine film genre theories with concepts of transnational and transcultural study methods, from World Cinema Studies, postcolonial studies, as well as visual culture and geographical cultural studies.

What results are you expecting to obtain?

The goal is to arrive at a deep understanding of the road movie  within the cinematography of the so-called “smaller nations”, such as, for example, Colombia, the Philippines or Algeria.  At the same time, the aim is to obtain a detailed classification of the makeup of a popular film genre, of its conventions and narrative as well as visual features in global cinema. It is a novel and non-conventional approach to the field of cinemagraphic genres.  Based on the polycentric film theories, it is a comparative perspective of a sole film genre at the global cinema level.  Its originality lies in the transnational and transcultural analysis of the road movie that would close a gap in existing film studies.

What is most difficult when tackling and analyzing these themes?

What is probably most complicated is accessing film material, above all films from Africa, but sometimes even Latin America or Asia.  Many films from these cinematographies are never commercially distributed, and stop being reproduced or simply are not accessible to an international market. This implies a lot of work in archives or accessing the possibility of seeing a movie by directly contacting directors or other researchers who have them in their possession.  After that, likewise complicated is synthesizing and processing the enormous amount of data extracted from a large and diverse corpus, in addition to relating them to heterogeneous cultural contexts. 

What advantages does researching this area within the CONEX framework bring?

Because of the complexity of my focus and the broad scope of the film corpus with which I work, the UC3m CONEX program allows me to dedicate myself to long term full-time research.  The University also offers excellent services such as the Linguistic Service and translations of scientific texts into English; the Getafe Campus Library is not only beautiful because of its architecture, but also it is very well equipped.  In addition, Madrid is undoubtedly one of the most attractive European metropolises because of its concentration of academic institutions and world class researchers.  As such, it is an ideal place to connect with colleagues, in theory as well as in practice, and that is, also in producing cinema.

Which university researchers are you collaborating with?

I had the pleasure of collaborating with the Tecmerin group from 2010 to 2013 in a scientific exchange program established between UC3M and University of Vienna.  From this project, headed by Dr. Manuel Palacio, several collaborations have already arisen in symposiums and conferences as well as in publications The scientific work of the researchers in the Journalism and Audiovisual Communication department – and in my case, especially those in the Cinema section- is noteworthy for its high quality, and the research lines pursued by my UC3M colleagues are very useful and inspiring.  I hope that thanks to the CONEX program these scientific exchanges can be expanded.