Prime Minister Florin Cîțu at UPT: "Research must be done in universities"
Prime Minister Florin Cîțu at UPT: "Research must be done in universities"
During his visit to Timișoara, on June 10, 2021, the Romanian Prime Minister Florin Cîțu met in the Auditorium of the Conference Center of Politehnica University Timișoara with representatives of academia, business and students, the discussions focusing mainly on research, its funding and support and, implicitly, the creation of high added-value jobs, which motivate young people to stay in the country.
In the opening of the meeting, the rector of UPT, associate professor eng. Florin Drăgan, Ph.D., presented the role of Politehnica in the development of the city and the region in its over 100 years of existence. The rector emphasized the openness he wants to imprint in the future to the research area, through projects in cutting-edge technology fields in which the university has a thorough expertise, but also through the establishment of multidisciplinary research centers, which will help keep graduates in the higher education system and in research.
The president of the Timiș County Council, Alin Nica, also a UPT alumnus, admitting that the university had defined his career, declared that, at this moment, Politehnica Timișoara is a real intelligence magnet, which attracts young professionals, which makes Timișoara a true technological pole, not only in the region or in the country, but in this part of Europe.
Starting from the motto of the university, uttered by King Ferdinand at the inauguration of its first building - "It is not the walls that make a school, but the spirit that reigns within" - Prime Minister Florin Cîțu stressed that this spirit is the key to his message: "We need engineers, well-trained engineers, and you have all the support to do whatever it takes to provide such graduates”. Speaking about the accelerated economic growth of Romania, among the largest in Europe, the Prime Minister also highlighted the need for investment in this period to support long-term development, especially in research, which could produce motivating jobs for young graduates and it would be a real engine for the whole economy. However, Florin Cîțu emphasized that research must be done in universities, based on competition, and to produce tangible results. The prime minister specified that, in these conditions, he will provide all the support for the development of research centers around universities.
During the meeting, representatives of the Steering Committee of Politehnica University Timisoara, an entity created seven years ago in national premiere, which brings together the managers of the most important companies in the city and region, which also wants to attract local authorities, spoke about the partnership with Politehnica University Timișoara which can be extended by creating and implementing a common strategy for a collaboration between the academic environment, the economic environment, and authorities for the further development of the city and the surrounding region.
Last but not least, the representative of the students from Politehnica University Timișoara asked the prime minister to find ways to keep young graduates in technical education, knowing the crisis of such staff, especially in high-tech fields, where companies compete seriously with universities in attracting graduates.
