“It’s an honour that the institution where I studied and taught for so many years has chosen me to serve as President. I am extremely grateful and happy for all the trust that has been placed in me”.
Dr Borrós, how are you approaching your new role as President of IQS?
First of all, it's an honour that the institution where I studied and taught for so many years has chosen me to serve as President. I am extremely grateful and happy for all the trust that has been placed in me.
It's certainly a great challenge for me because, having spent my career as a professor, researcher, and entrepreneur, I have never taken on a position like this one as President. Therefore, now I'll have to combine the different aspects of my career with putting myself at everyone's service and trying to keep clear objectives for IQS in line with its mission over the coming years.
In addition, this academic year is especially complicated due to the global pandemic that we are currently experiencing. From the very first day of the initial confinement in March, IQS has done an outstanding job in adapting and so students can enjoy quality education, even if it's not in person, and continue doing laboratory work, as we have done in this second wave. The whole situation is very concerning, but at the same time hopeful, because IQS has responded perfectly and we will continue to do so. I'm really proud of this response.
You have a consolidated track record as a professor, researcher, and entrepreneur. With this cross-cutting experience, what will the new roadmap be to further promote the combination of these three aspects in IQS's future?
This has really been the leitmotif of my life: finding the balance between being a professor, researcher, and entrepreneur. This triple dimension is what defines me personally, and it is this dynamic that I would like to convey to IQS as a whole: there are no airtight compartments, no priority lines. We have to strengthen IQS as a whole and involve all staff members in this process, whether they're professors, researchers, or entrepreneurs, along with all other staff who do other essential tasks that enable the university to be what it is.
We'll support not only quality teaching, which we already have, but demand responsibility along with this quality. We'll dedicate significant efforts to promoting IQS as a research centre of reference.
And, obviously, we'll also promote it as a reference from the perspective of entrepreneurship, both with initiatives that have already been successful, such as the IQS Tech Factory, along with new ones as well. We want our students to see that entrepreneurship is also a possible path, that it generates wealth, and that it opens up highly qualified and relevant jobs, especially in times that are as complicated as those we're living in now.
As a professor, what do you think is the biggest challenge IQS faces in the new academic year that has just begun?
The biggest challenge is obviously keeping the students motivated with the teaching, which will be in person, virtual, or with a mixed format. We'll do whatever it takes. That's the biggest challenge. We also have to ensure that the situation does not discourage professors so we can continue to maintain the level we have achieved so far.
As I've said before, I cannot be more proud of the IQS teaching staff, as President now, and I hope that they continue working in the ways students so greatly appreciate.
As a researcher, what is your ideal regarding university research?
A few years ago, an IQS professor, Dr Condal, asked what was more important: theory or practice? He said "the most important thing is theory and practice."
Regarding the question, my ideal is the union and balance between basic research and applied research, which really has a positive impact on society and also generates a positive dynamic from the point of view of the IQS mission. And, above all, there's an important aspect focusing on society, meaning that our research isn't just published in articles and known by our professors and researchers, but has a clear impact on society as a whole.
As an entrepreneur, what advice would you give to younger generations?
First of all, you have to have good ideas. Don't be afraid, and think that it's worth the effort to face a new challenge, know that the challenge is yours, and that, with the help of others of course, you can make it happen and achieve an impact on society. That's priceless!
If somebody asked me now, “Do you want to be an entrepreneur?”, and knowing that I've done it many times, sometimes with great success and other times less so and often suffering quite a bit, I would say yes! Without a doubt! Because it's simultaneously a fulfilling experience that, even though the road is often quite hard, gives great satisfaction and that, in the end, we do because we believe in the project and because the project is ours.
Finally, as General Director, which values of the IQS mission do you want to promote most?
The IQS mission draws on the four pillars of the Society of Jesus, summarized in the Ledesma-Kolvenbach paradigm, and I believe that an IQS education should empower our students with the following:
- A practical dimension (utilitas). Our students must be educated to solve problems and be attentive to the needs of the society in which they live.
- A desire to promote justice (justitia). Our students (and the entire IQS community) must learn to think, judge, and act to support the rights of others.
- A humanist spirit (humanitas). Education is framed in a time and in a specific society and the raw material is people. Education cannot forget people.
- The awareness of the spiritual dimension in education at a school like ours (fides).
Finally, I would like to promote the deeply Ignatian concept of Discernment across all levels of our institution. We must have the ability to suspect that not everything is as it seems at first glance, but that all experience – even more so in spiritual life – is complex and requires clarification.