Josep Anton Planell nominated to take over as the new president of the UOC
Dr. Planell is currently director of the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and has spent much of his career in the research of biomaterials.
By Biocat
Dr. Josep Anton Planell (Barcelona, 1951) is the new candidate for President of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) for the next seven years. The Board of Trustees of the UOC, which met on Wednesday, unanimously decided to nominate Josep Anton Planell after completing the selection process involving a wide range of candidates.
Planell is a physicist and PhD in Materials Science from the University of London. Since 1992 Professor of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering at the School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona. He currently directs the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and is editor of the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine at the European Society for Biomaterials.
The candidate will have an audience with the Advisory Board and representatives from the University's faculty on 28 February. The resulting report will be sent to the Board of Trustees so that they can formalize his appointment. This meeting is scheduled to take place during the first two weeks of March. The proposed appointment of the new president will then be ratified by the Catalan government.
The Board of Trustees thanked Imma Tubella and the people who have formed part of her governing team during her time in office for their work and dedication over the last seven years (2005-2012), a period in which the University has established a community of over 60,000 students.
In recent years, the UOC has been increasing studies related to the health sciences.