News
26.01.2026First Meeting of the SCT Managers of Catalan Universities
On January 21th, the CCiTUB hosted the first joint meeting of the managers of the Scientific and Technical Services (SCT), or equivalent units, from several Catalan universities. The initiative emerged from the contacts established during the national meeting organised by CRUE on 21 November, which held the First Meeting of Research Support Centers and Scientific-Technical Services (CAIs-SCT). That event highlighted the need for a stable coordination space at the Catalan level.
The meeting began with a round of presentations on how each university organises and operates its services. This initial exchange revealed a significant organisational heterogeneity across existing management models. Despite this diversity, several common challenges affecting all services were identified:
• Service saturation due to increasing demand.
• Reduced staffing, with no defined professional career pathways.
• Difficulties in upgrading and maintaining scientific equipment, essential for maintaining competitiveness.
• Complex management of the balance between internal research support activities and externally funded services.
• Lack of structural funding, along with a perception of insufficient support from public administrations regarding the sustainability of major scientific infrastructures.
Based on this shared diagnosis, the participating universities agreed to promote several priority lines of action:
• Establish the SCT-CAT network, aimed at enhancing coordination, representation, and strategic planning of services at a national scale.
• Improve the visibility of the SCT both within institutions and across the Catalan scientific, technological, and business ecosystem.
• Promote inter-university training programmes, targeted at both technical staff and users, to strengthen competencies, optimise the use of technologies, and foster knowledge transfer.