On October 10, in the Mindway space (María de Molina 27), the Pulsa crowdfunding platform was presented, which has just been launched by the General Foundation of the UCM. The director of the Foundation, Andrés Arias, explains that the initiative arose from the need to seek alternative means of financing for projects that are complicated and that do not meet the standards established in ordinary calls. Arias made it clear that, therefore, “it does not seek to replace public funding”, but rather it is a way of adding more efforts so that all Complutense initiatives have the possibility of being carried out. Rector Joaquín Goyache trusts that Pulsa will be effective for all those projects that do not find financial support through other means and hopes that society will help develop these projects. In passing, he encouraged everyone who has an idea to present it, because “one of the university’s missions is to create and support ideas that are of benefit to society.”
Andrés Arias explains that Pulsa is aimed at university projects, initially from the Complutense, but extendable to any other university, which have no place in other calls; that they come from students and from all the people associated, in some way, with the university, and also from retired personnel who at the time were unable to carry out a project.
The deputy director of the Foundation, Sonia Olmeda, believes that “the university community has a lot of potential, creativity and initiative that sometimes remains undeveloped.” So that this does not happen like this, this platform is launched, which is open to projects from any field, in what is intended to be a dynamic environment that the university community gets used to entering to see what projects there are and consider whether it is interested in participating. with the amount you think appropriate.
To promote this dynamism, each project will be uploaded on the platform for 90 days, in which the largest possible number will be reached, or at least the number that the researchers consider necessary to carry out their idea.
four examples
In the presentation of the platform, the first four projects that have already been uploaded and that can be financially supported were presented. The first of them, headed by Ana Isabel Corchado, from the Department of Social Work and Social Services, is called “Mediation in your hand”, and consists of an app where you can find all the information available on mediation, including the resources available to that you can go to any problem.
Guadalupe Miró, from the Department of Animal Health, presented the project “What can we A-CER for the cats on the UCM campus?”. The professor explained that in our university it is estimated that there are more than 300 cats, spread over 35 feline colonies, cared for by 12 managers-feeders, two Veterinary professors and a large number of volunteers. The project seeks to increase resources to be able to carry out the A-CER (Feed, Capture, Sterilize and Return) plan, as well as improve the facilities where cats are fed, know the exact census and ultimately continue doing the necessary ethical and health management.
The third project is led by Víctor Jiménez Cid, from the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, who seeks to raise money to organize the popular race “Run without resistance”, with which to promote the Micromundo @ UCM project in which he has been involved for years. This initiative consists of forming groups of university professors and students who go to schools and institutes to organize raids on the soil microbiota in search of new antibiotics that serve to alleviate the silent pandemic that is already causing antibiotic resistance.
The last of the projects was presented by Serafín Soliño, director of the Student Area, and seeks to expand the pool of resources for the special care plan for university students affected by the war in Ukraine who come to our university. Soliño recalled that the UCM has already allocated 150,000 euros to enroll 45 students, who are also offered Spanish courses and, in some cases, accommodation in colleges. In any case, there have been more than 300 applications for registration, so expanding that pool of resources, thanks to crowdfunding, will allow it to reach a greater number of students.
