3 February 2020 | Münster/Mondragon
María is developing her PhD in the field of University Business-Cooperation (UBC). The main objective of her PhD is to explore UBC's black box by identifying and analysing its determining factors from an SME perspective. This is the reason why she has chosen and was invited by S2BMRC. The Center has vast experience in UBC related research and consulting since many years and conducted several studies in the field, e.g. for the European Commission.
María is a visiting researcher in the program of Erasmus+ "Academic Mobility" for 3 months (2 in spring 2020 and 1 in autumn 2020).
Having graduated in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering at Mondragon University (a Mondragon Corporation cooperative located in northern Spain), Maria stayed on to focus her studies on Innovation through the development of a Master's degree (MA) in Business Innovation and Project Management. She combined her studies with dual apprenticeship programs, giving her the opportunity to be familiar with the business world from the beginning of her studies.
After finishing her university studies, she worked for two and a half years as Business Technician in a public County Development Agency, carrying out innovation and competitiveness improvement projects with manufacturing SMEs, micro-SMEs and entrepreneurs. This work experience ignited her passion for innovation, entrepreneurship and regional development.
With a view to satisfying her curiosity for teaching, she completed a MA in Secondary Education (International University of La Rioja). Her stay at Palermo (Italy) is also worth mentioning, during which she attended a course in "Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation" while gaining international experience.
Thanks to her background and experience, she started working four years ago as a junior lecturer and researcher in the Department of "Innovation, Organizational Model and HR Management" of Mondragon University.
S2BMRC Team is welcoming María and is looking forward to team up with her.