Area: Sevilla FC Academic Chair

This section is where we describe the various actions carried out by the Sevilla FC Chair – UPO: University, Business, and Sports.

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Deadline for receipt of entries for the 3rd Blasco Garzón Prize is now open.

The ‘Sevilla FC: University, Business and Sport’ Chair at the Pablo de Olavide University (UPO) has opened the call for entries for the third edition of the Manuel Blasco Garzón Award. This award recognises the excellence of the best Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Final Projects presented by students enrolled at the UPO, both in official degrees and in lifelong learning. The aim of this award is to encourage study, initiation to research and the transfer of knowledge in different fields of knowledge.

The rules of the call for entries and the procedure for submitting nominations can be done through this link. Entries can be submitted until 31 December and the prize will be awarded on 15 February 2024. So far, the work of six graduating students has been recognised, with the Faculty of Sports Sciences and the Faculty of Experimental Sciences having won all the prizes, with topics such as the analysis of the reliability of jump and sprint tests, the characterisation of fibroblasts derived from patients and pharmacological screening or polyphenolics as a therapy in Crohn’s disease.

This award pays tribute to the memory of Manuel Blasco Garzón, former president of Sevilla FC under whose mandate the club won two Andalusian Cups, the first doctor in the club’s history was hired, the first training camps were organised and the Reina Victoria Stadium hosted the Spanish Cup final between FC Barcelona and Club Arenas de Guecho. Not forgetting that he welcomed on his board a young man called to write the best pages of the club’s history: Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. Blasco Garzón was also an omnipresent figure in the social and cultural life of Seville at the time, being, among other positions, president of the Seville Athenaeum and promoter of projects aimed at bringing culture to the neighbourhoods and contributing to the education of citizens, helping in the fight against illiteracy.

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Pablo de Olavide University recognizes Sevilla FC on its 25th anniversary.

Pablo de Olavide University is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and throughout the 2022/23 academic year, it has been commemorating its first quarter-century of existence with a special program of activities. A calendar of actions that culminated on Tuesday at its headquarters with a recognition event for entities that have initiated and developed various projects of academic, social, cultural, and research nature. Among these entities is Sevilla FC, the only club in Spain that holds an entire Academic Chair at a public university, precisely at Pablo de Olavide University, named ‘University, Business, and Sports.’ Specifically, Sevilla FC was recognized in the ‘Culture and Sports’ category. Through these awards, UPO aims to highlight the work of entities and companies that promote the professional development of students and, therefore, contribute to the economic and cultural progress of society based on the synergy between businesses and the university.

The event, held at the UPO’s Auditorium, in front of the José Ramón Cisneros Palacios Sports City, featured the presence of José Castro, president of Sevilla FC. “It is a true honor to receive this recognition. We always say that we must be more than a football club, using our potential to contribute to making a better society. For several years, we have been driving the establishment of the Sevilla FC Chair to promote innovation, knowledge, and employability from within the university, because not fewer than ten students from UPO have already joined our club. I don’t want to forget the Manuel Blasco Garzón award, through which we promote university excellence, the ‘Never Give Up’ runners-up, the 20 training scholarships granted, and our participation in the economic and social council,” said the highest authority of Sevilla FC.

Likewise, Juan Esteban Gómez from the R&D&I department was also present. A department that has recently been featured in the ‘Tesis’ program on Canal Sur Televisión, where the work of Sevilla’s Innovation Center was showcased. This platform is used to promote research, dissemination, training, employability, and entrepreneurship activities, including collaborations with universities and, especially, this Sevilla Chair at Pablo de Olavide University.

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The Sevilla FC Chair participates in the awards of the 15th UpoEmprende Contest.

On the morning of Friday, June 23, the XV UpoEmprende Contest event took place at Pablo de Olavide University, as usual, with the collaboration of the Sevilla FC Academic Chair through its Innovation Center. In a space that promotes an entrepreneurial spirit and supports business ideas generated from the university environment, awards were presented after the presentation of the 20 finalist projects, out of a total of 63 projects submitted and 214 participants.

As for the Honorable Mentions, courtesy of the Sevilla FC Academic Chair: University, Business, and Sports, in this edition of the UPOemprende Contest, two ‘Never Give Up’ awards have been granted, each with an economic prize of 400 euros. These Honorable Mentions have been awarded to the Impulsa project, a company responsible for creating virtual reality applications to enhance executive functions and improve the prefrontal lobe, and to 4EyesArenal, a digital platform for educational institutions that enables students, teachers, and administrative staff to efficiently record and resolve incidents in the school’s facilities and workshops.

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The “Tesis” program on Canal Sur TV focuses on the Sevilla FC Academic Chair at Pablo de Olavide University

The Sevilla FC Innovation Center continues to capture the attention of both insiders and outsiders. The platform where the entire innovation proposal that the club offers to the world of sports converges has been featured in the latest edition of the prestigious ‘Tesis’ program on Canal Sur TV. The television program, focused on the dissemination of the work carried out in all the universities of Andalusia, delved into the promotion and development of R&D&I projects carried out at Sevilla FC., which is the only club that has a chair at a university

It is the ‘Sevilla FC: University, Business, and Sports’ Chair, based at Pablo de Olavide University. This chair is primarily focused on the sports field – sports sciences. The goal is to develop an integrated system of research, training, analysis, information, and dissemination activities in areas related to the university, business, and sports domains. Through this chair, Sevilla FC manages to identify and foster talent, as well as contribute to employability, with over a dozen UPO students joining the club in some of its key departments.

In this latest edition of ‘Tesis’, José María Cruz Gallardo, Head of R&D&I at Sevilla FC, explains the club’s commitment as follows: “Student training starts at the university, but at Sevilla FC what we aim to do is contribute, in each training modality, our bit of knowledge so that this training is as closely aligned as possible with the realities of the market, and specifically, with the unique realities of Sevilla FC. We can provide students with a stable and reliable professional environment in which they can grow and apply the education they receive from the university”.

Meanwhile, Laura López de la Cruz, Vice Chancellor of UPO, summarizes the importance of this initiative in the program: “The Sevilla FC Chair serves a key role, which is to merge the knowledge generated in the university with its practical application in the business and society. It promotes the creation of businesses and sports, and thanks to an organization as significant as Sevilla FC, we achieve greater visibility and reach more people”.

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Sevilla FC participates in the workshop for the co-construction of the ‘OlavideDual’ model.

Sevilla FC was present at the I Workshop ‘Building the Olavide Dual Model.’ Specifically, the Head of the R&D department of the club, José María Cruz Gallardo, was responsible for representing the Nervión club in a project with the main goal of generating shared knowledge among the entities involved in the learning ecosystem in the Dual Teaching Model for the construction of a valid and successful model. Dual university education combines theoretical and practical training. It is worth noting that this is materialized through a collaboration agreement between the University and the Company, where the student alternates between classroom training and work in the business entity, acquiring skills and knowledge to enhance employability.

Inaugurated by Francisco Oliva Blázquez, the Rector of Pablo de Olavide University, along with Amapola Povedano Díaz, the Director General of Employability and Entrepreneurship, this event has seen the participation and attendance of other companies. They have shared the analysis of the current situation, identifying the needs and demands of companies and entities, evaluating available resources, defining objectives, and identifying obstacles and opportunities.

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Hydrolimit and Soldier Fly, winning projects of the II UpoEmprende Hackathon sponsored by the chair.

Hydrolimit, a device to regulate or limit water discharge and consumption in medium and low-category hotels and tourist apartments, as well as Soldier Fly, a high-quality protein product for fertilization, made from the treatment of organic waste metabolized by soldier fly larvae, have been the two winning projects of the second edition of the UPOemprende Hackathon—an event for generating ideas to solve a challenge inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This second edition, organized by the Vice-Rectorate for Institutional Relations and Foundations of the Pablo de Olavide University, through the General Directorate of Employability and Entrepreneurship, had 33 students distributed in eight multidisciplinary teams. During twelve hours, they worked to respond to the challenge posed by Recapacicla, which consisted of developing sustainable solutions to address waste issues. During the event, José Viñas, the club’s Sustainability Manager, participated as a mentor.

The jury was composed of Nuria García, Design and Strategy Coordinator in Sevilla at Andalucía Emprende; Javier Ramos, Coordinator of the Employability and Entrepreneurship Area of the UPO Foundation; Pablo Uceda, Vice President of the Association of Free Software Students at UPO ‘Esoliupo’; Juan Esteban Gómez, from the R&D&I Department of Sevilla Football Club; and Cristina Cáceres Moro, CEO of the consulting firm Ciconia and manager of the Recapacicla Universidades program. They were responsible for awarding the two prizes of 800 euros each, sponsored by the Sevilla FC Chair: University, Business, and Sports and the Recapacicla Universidades program. In the closing ceremony, in addition to the jury, participants included the General Director of Employability and Entrepreneurship at Pablo de Olavide University, Amapola Povedano; the Director of the Higher Technical School at UPO, Norberto Díaz, as well as the ambassador of the Sevilla FC Foundation, Antonio Álvarez

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Renewed agreement for the III Edition of the Sevilla FC Chair: university, business, and sports.

The president of Sevilla FC, José Castro Carmona, and the rector of Pablo de Olavide University, Francisco Oliva Blázquez, renewed the collaboration agreement this Wednesday for the development of the third edition of the ‘Sevilla FC Chair: University, Business, and Sports.’ The objective of this chair is to develop an integrated system of research, training, analysis, information, and dissemination activities related to knowledge transfer, employability, and entrepreneurship in the university, business, and sports fields. Also present at the event were the Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Foundations, Laura López de la Cruz, and the Head of the R&D&I Department at Sevilla FC, José María Cruz Gallardo.

José Castro highlighted Sevilla FC’s involvement in all areas of society, particularly in the field of education. ‘We believe that we can contribute to promoting innovation and knowledge from within the university since we are the reference club in LaLiga in terms of technological development,’ he emphasized. He also added that both institutions are strengthened with this Chair and referred to the 25th Anniversary of Pablo de Olavide University, ‘a project that is now a great reality, and we feel part of it.’

On the other hand, in the words of Francisco Oliva, the Chair stands out for its degree of employability, its connection to the entrepreneurial culture, and its social commitment: ‘This Chair works, and it is satisfying that Sevilla FC is committed to it. For the University, synergy with societal agents is very important, especially with such a powerful entity.’ He also highlighted the importance of sports for Pablo de Olavide University and referred to the infrastructure improvements currently underway, such as the new athletics track.

The Chair Council for this third edition will be formed, on the part of Pablo de Olavide University, by the Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Foundations and professor of the Department of Private Law, Laura López de la Cruz; the professor from the Department of Sport and Computer Science, Javier Gálvez González, who will direct the Chair; the professor from the Department of Computer Science and director of the Higher Polytechnic School, Norberto Díaz Díaz; and the coordinator of the Employability and Entrepreneurship Area at the Pablo de Olavide University Foundation, Javier Ramos Valenzuela. Likewise, on the part of Sevilla FC, the first vice president of Sevilla FC, José María del Nido Carrasco; the deputy general manager, Jesús Arroyo Sánchez; the head of the R&D&I Department, José María Cruz Gallardo; and Juan Esteban Gómez Llamas, also from the R&D&I Department, will be part of it.

During the development of this Chair, almost a dozen students have joined the club professionally. In addition, 20 training scholarships have been launched, along with four editions of the university expert title, three summer courses ‘360º Sports Management applied to football,’ and an advanced professional development course. The Chair has created the ‘Manuel Blasco Garzón’ award, named after the president of the Seville club between 1924 and 1925, to recognize the excellence of the best Bachelor’s and Master’s Theses carried out by students enrolled at the UPO. It has conducted numerous free webinars for the university community and collaborated in the UPOemprende competition.

Among the activities outlined in the collaboration agreement, the Chair includes advising and preparing reports and other studies; organizing and holding training activities; developing cultural activities; participating in congresses and conferences; and conducting joint research and diagnostic activities. It also involves designing and implementing strategies to promote entrepreneurial culture, open innovation, and support for UPO start-ups and spin-offs; social commitment actions; and the promotion and funding of Strategic Lines of Specific Training Activities at the University.