The International Monitoring Commission appointed by the Regional Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for the evaluation of the projects of the Campus of International Excellence highlights in its report the "solid progress on education" of the project Ad Futurum, developed by the University of Oviedo.

The evaluation carried out by experts, submitted by the Regional Ministry to the academic institution, emphasizes the advance of the initiatives of the Asturian CIE throughout the past year and highly values the implementation and development of the ten bilingual degrees included, in which more than 437 students are registered.

One of the strengths of the Project Ad Futurum according to experts is the participation of the Asturian University in six Erasmus Mundus Master Courses, being the coordinator and promoter of three of them. The conclusions of experts highlight that the CIE has a "strong link with the regional and local environment" and praise the implementation of "solid initiatives" concerning information like GAUDEO. The report also commends the specific Communication Plan for the Campus of International Excellence.

The close interaction with social agents opens a door, according to experts to consolidate a territorial university that contributes to the diversification of the social and economic development of the region.

The development of internships in companies related to final degree and master projects is also praised by experts, together with measures aimed at employment and entrepreneurship, and the advances concerning life-long education and virtual learning.

In the conclusions of the report, the commission admits the impact of the cuts on the development of the project that have taken place in the last few months. The report actually refers to the decrease of some scientific indicators due to the reduction of the funding for projects through the R+D National Plan.

Experts also emphasize the effect that "the doubts about the future of the program" has had on the implementation of some actions, for example, the development of the Off-Shore Experimental Station. However, according to the commission, the global progress of the project Ad Futurum is "reasonable."

In the section devoted to recommendations, the evaluation highlights the need to diversify the project funding sources, strengthening alliances with the local industry and international research groups. The promotion of the technological transfer is also advised, in order to improve the interaction with the business world.

As regards the alliance of partners of the CIE, with more than 300 companies and institutions, the commission recommends to make a selection of strategic partners that help the University contribute to the diversification of the productive network of the region.

The Project Ad Futurum was awarded with the accreditation of Campus of International Excellence in November 2009. From then on, the University of Oviedo has developed most of the actions included in the project.