Neurekalab - a spin-off of UB and UVic-UCC to improve learning and reduce school failure is launched

Attention, reading and writing skills, working memory, numerical processing and calculation are key cognitive processes in learning. Poor performance in these areas is related to school failure, and although Spain is one of the three European countries with the highest school failure rates, there are currently few scientifically validated methods for early detection in these processes. The researchers Josep Maria Serra-Grabulosa, of the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology of the University of Barcelona (UB), and Sergi Grau, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic- UCC), identified this lack of methods and decided to create Neurekalab, a spin-off in which the two universities are shareholders, and which was established in order to develop and market digital tools to enable users to improve their learning and to prevent school failure. "For some years, scientific studies have shown that detecting learning difficulties and early intervention to work on them improves these children's prognosis. This led us to develop tools that enabled us first, to identify learning difficulties in the classroom at an early stage; and second, to create tools to be able to intervene in an appealing way," explains Dr Serra-Grabulosa.

The researchers have developed two digital products - one for detection and the other for intervention - which are integrated onto a single web platform and are accessible from any computer with an Internet connection: Di-test, a battery of digital tests that detects early learning difficulties and has been tested with more than 1,500 children in Catalonia; and Nummerus, which automates numerical processing and provides challenges of increasing difficulty, which has been created in order to re-educate all children with dyscalculia, i.e. numbers dyslexia, and to improve and facilitate maths learning. "The use of technology must enable content to be personalised, but above all it must allow children to see it as a game. The combination of the two things increases adherence to the treatments and their effectiveness," explains Dr Grau.

These tools are designed to be used both in schools and by clinical psychology and educational psychology professionals. The spin-off will also provide an app for families who want to reinforce their children's maths learning during a specific timeframe. "Our idea is not only to detect learning difficulties, but also to enable healthcare and education professionals to determine each child's strengths and weaknesses in order to improve the personalisation of the learning process," concludes Dr Serra-Grabulosa.

The Bosch i Gimpera Foundation is the technology transfer and innovation transfer unit at the University of Barcelona. It is responsible for transferring the results of research at the UB to society by establishing spin-offs, licensing patents, and by means of contracts with companies and institutions, thereby contributing to the competitiveness of the business fabric and to the improvement of social welfare. 789 projects were managed in 2018, and contracts amounted to 32.67 million Euros. 41 technologies were licensed and 7 spin-offs established during the period between 2016 and 2018. 

University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) is a university with a municipal and national board of trustees, with a commitment to the public realm, governed by the Balmes University Foundation, which provides public services in the areas of teaching, research and knowledge transfer. The Manresa campus has been part of UVic since 2014 as a result of the federation between the Balmes University Foundation and the Bages University Foundation. It also has facilities in Granollers and in Barcelona. 30 research groups recognised by the Government of Catalonia, and 10 chairs engaged in research at UVic-UCC are clearly focused on generating knowledge and transferring it to society.