Relaciones Internacionales

Enrique Perdiguero and María Pastor, organizing and scientific committee members of the seminar.

The Health Reforms in Brazil and Southern European Countries in the 20th Century second international seminar was held over November 15-16, 2019 on the UMH Sant Joan d’Alacant Campus. This event, coordinated by the Vice Rectorate for International Relations, forms part of the activities organized by the Tordesillas Doctoral College of Public Health and History of Science, which itself is part of the Tordesillas Group.

The organization of this seminar aimed to create an international space that reached the entire university community. María Pastor, International Doctorate Director at the UMH, affirmed that these types of activities carried out within the Tordesillas Doctoral College of Public Health and History of Science represent “an opportunity for cooperation that extends beyond international mobility.”

Public health, understood as a discipline focused on the promotion of health and prevention of illness, should not only be studied by those within the field of the health sciences. Other disciplines should form part of this process of study and research. This was precisely the aim of this international seminar, to focus on promoting this perception of public health.

According to Enrique Perdiguero, a UMH History of Science professor and responsible for organizing the seminar, the Spanish health system is focused more on a healing system. “When I speak about the Spanish public health system, I not only do so on hospital care, but also on the groups formed by different specialties that are organized for preventive actions against illness,” assures Perdiguero.

For Ana Mehnert Pascoal, a professor from ARTIS – University of Lisbon (Portugal), among the specialties involved in health reform in matters of public health, the investigative role in disciplines such as history, anthropology, sociology, and psychology must be highlighted.

Seminar workshops addressed the origins of public health right up to the present day via a tour of the strengths and weaknesses of different historical contexts in countries that included Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain. Guido Giarelli, a professor from the Italian Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro, stressed the factors that affected each stage of change and explained the different health system models throughout the 20th century, divided into four macro European regions: north, south, center-west, and center-east.

Other points addressed in session seminars included the interest in exchanging ideas on the processes and stages of different health reforms undergone throughout the former century, and not only in continental Europe, but also Brazil. This was accomplished in the informative sessions presented by professors María Cristina Da Costa Marques and André Mota from the Brazilian University of São Paulo. This concluded with comparisons made between the management, understanding, and starting points of public health in European countries and Brazil.

The seminar’s final portion focused on Spanish health reforms. Inmaculada Hurtado, a professor from CEU Cardenal Herrera University (Spain), and Aida Terrón, from the University of Oviedo (Spain), presented the different international dynamics in sexual education during the Spanish transition to democracy that began in 1975. Then, Eduardo Bueno Vergara and Enrique Perdiguero Gil, both UMH professors, pointed out the limits and resistance that exist in Spanish social security.

The Health Reforms in Brazil and Southern European Countries in the 20th Century second international seminar concluded on the importance of understanding how former health reforms and the historical factors have affected today’s public health, and occupy a leading position.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

The Deputy Minister for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Dominican Republic, Plácido Gómez, visited the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) to consolidate the alliance between the Dominican government and the UMH.

During his visit, Gómez met with UMH Rector, Juan José Ruiz; Vice Rector for International Relations, Vicente Micol; in addition to a UMH delegation formed by Vice Rector for Research, Domingo Orozco; Vice Rector for Knowledge Transfer and Exchange, María José López; Deputy Vice Rector for International Relations, José Luis Esteban; Ibero-America Espejo Program Director, Joaquín Pastor; Director of the Scientific Park, Tonia Salinas; and with the Academic Director of the Virtual Environment of Nanocourse Education, Fernando Borrás. These meetings helped define the possibilities for implementing within the Dominican Republic’s university system, which is home to 49 universities, the graduate-level programs that have been established in the Ibero-America Espejo Program that is supported by the Vice Rectorate for International Relations. The meetings also served to advance discussions on grants by the Dominican Republic government for future Dominican students at the UMH.

This institutional visit also enabled the Deputy Minister to tour the UMH Scientific Park, research group facilities at the institutes of Bioengineering (IB); Research, Development and Innovation in Sanitary Biotechnology of Elche (IDiBE); Neurosciences (IN), and at the Cyborg Center. At these centers, Gómez met with the directors at the IB (Ángela Sastre) and IDiBE (Antonio Ferrer), the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Antonio Compañ, and with the Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Salvador Martínez.

In August 2019, the Sabinar Raid UMH team, comprised of Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) students, returned from their solidarity adventure, Europ’Raid: Eastern Adventures. With support from the Vice Rectorate for International Relations, Alfonso Ases and Borja Gallud, both UMH industrial engineering graduate students, along with Manuel Arnau, a UMH mechanical engineering undergraduate student, drove through 22 European countries while behind the wheel of a 1989 Peugeot 205 automobile. During the 13,800 kilometers and 22 stages, they delivered 100 kilograms of solidarity material.

One hundred and fifty European individuals, which included youngsters in orphanages, people with functional diversity, and others in processes of occupational and/social integration, were the recipients of this solidarity material that the Sabinar Raid team delivered. Of the material donated, footwear, cold weather clothing, and school supplies stand out. “This kind of material is highly valued by the social centers and schools, given the extreme winter temperatures there,” says Alfonso Ases, the team’s founding member. The main purpose of these kinds of solidarity actions of volunteerism is to deliver necessary material. “Our collaboration is fairly small, but it enabled providing these centers and schools with supplies for the upcoming school year,” recounts Ases.

Most of the material was delivered in the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and specifically at Los Rosales School. The Spanish government founded the school, but it no longer receives any funding from Spain. “Today, Los Rosales survives solely from donations; it receives no income, but it has a history that has made it deserving of a social integration initiative since its early beginnings, and so this was an incentive,” explains Ases. Other centers that received donations receive support from Eastern European governments, along with French and German NGOs that work in those areas.

The experience

For the team members, their solidarity challenge enabled them to gain a “global view of the whole of Europe.” As for his adventure, Manuel Arnau, a Sabinar Raid member who had not undergone an experience like this before, considers that “seeing less developed countries, places that adapt to what they possess, makes you value our good fortune that much more.”

Throughout the past 25 years, countries in Eastern Europe have been affected by civil wars that have left marks on their inhabitants, which is why they have their own initiatives for developing the most deteriorated and affected areas. “We were in places with extreme poverty, religious influence, and severe political conflict. In the young people, you see contrasts – they are always happy, but muted on the inside,” narrates Arnau.

Following his experience in countries such as Yugoslavia, Bosnia, and Greece, Alfonso Ases reached the conclusion that a closer relationship between European countries would be of great benefit. “We are undergoing a series of social problems that do not seem important. It would seem like there is nothing beyond Italy; that past it is not Europe. However, as soon as you become aware of the situation, you recognize that there are many similarities with our culture. We would all benefit if we developed together, more so than if everybody just looked after their own piece of land,” says Ases.

Despite the mechanical problems their car suffered, constant rain throughout the route, and the extensive kilometers traveled, Borja Gallud, the Sabinar Raid’s third member, affirms that it was among the most enriching experiences he has ever undergone and a tremendous cultural exchange. He finishes by adding that despite the different philosophies between the previous UniRaid in the Sahara Dessert and the recent Europ’Raid: Eastern Adventures, the affection he felt was the same.

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Vulcanus in Japan is a program that consists in carrying out industrial internships in Japan. These internships begin in September and conclude in August of the subsequent year. The students complete:  

• A weeklong seminar in Japan.
• A four-month intensive course of Japanese.
• An internship lasting 8 months at a Japanese company.

The Vulcanus program in Japan is subsidized by both the Japanese businesses that host the students and by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation. Students receive a grant of 1,900,000 yen, which is intended to cover travel expenses and basic living expenses in Japan. The host business is responsible for each intern’s accommodations for the 12 months. The Japanese language course and seminar are covered by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation.

Applicants, nationals of EU*/COSME countries, must be:

– enrolled in an EU/COSME university, in either an engineering or scientific field* until at least the month of June subsequent to submitting the application.

– enrolled between the fourth year of an undergraduate program and next-to-last year of a PhD program.

– able to be absent from your university program for one year.

*Eligible programs are those related to computer science, engineering, chemistry, biotechnology, physics, telecommunications, production systems, etc.

Required documentation

The application process is managed by the Service of International Relations, Development Cooperation and Volunteerism, and includes:

• Application
• Applicant’s curriculum vitae
• Motivation Letter (maximum 1 page in length)
• Recommendation letter by an instructor from one of the most important program courses
• University transcript (in English), sealed by the corresponding university
• University grading system (in English)
• University enrollment certification (in English)
• Medical certificate (in English)
• A separate folder containing photocopies of all the aforementioned documents (except for the Excel spreadsheet)
• Online submission of personal data, through the online link (only one submission permitted)
• Information about the required documents

The Service of International Relations will accept all applications, review them, and forward them to the EU-Japan Centre at the appropriate time.

The deadline for submitting all required documents to the Service of International Relations (La Galia Building, Elche Campus), to then be forwarded to the EU-Japan Centre, is January 13, 2020.

Additional program information is available HERE.