The Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education held in Bergen (Norway) last May 19 and 20 passed a Communiqué titled “The Higher Education European Area- Achieving the Goals”. This final declaration resumes the advancements in the so-called European Convergence Process, and proposes the agenda to 2010, the agreed date to finish the process.

The use of triangulation techniques has long been demanded by social research methods literature. Most of social scientists have considered that the more variety of methodologies, data and researchers is used in the analysis of a specific problem the more reliable the results will be. This paper reviews the theoretical concept of triangulation to show its main advantages and risks as research strategy in social sciences.

There is a growing interest in intellectual property, and especially, in industrial property. Two trends are emerging: policymakers are boosting the knowledge economy, and patents are considered as firm’s assets.

Business Angel Networks or BANs are organizations that aim to create environments for the investment in technological projects, assuring high levels of quality and confidentiality. This kind of networks, originally from the USA, have shown their efficiency with numerous examples of successful companies founded as a result of the matching activities between investors and technological entrepreneurs. The NTBS or New Technology Based Firms are ideal companies for this investors, due to their high growth potential.

The Universities and Research General Directorate (Education Department, Madrid Regional Government) is involved in building interaction mechanisms between scientists, policymakers and citizens. So, has organized Citizens’ Panels to analyze and to discuss science and technology relevant issues. The goal is to foster the scientific culture and to boost the social debate about those issues. This time, the issue is the Kioto Protocol and its implementation in Spain.