The High Ability Campus is a pioneering initiative of the Rafael del Pino Foundation whose main objective is to develop to the maximum the potential of young people aged between 10 and 18 accredited as "high ability". Depending on their age, the young people follow two different training programmes;
– Between 10 and 13 years with workshops and high-level robotics and technology with methodologies that are only taught in MIT and Tufts University environments;
– Between 14 and 18 years with professors from Business Schools to work on an entrepreneurship project.
NOTE: There is a borderline age range (13-14 years) in which it will depend on the evolutionary maturity of the pupil, and that of the rest of the pupils, to fall into one block or the other.
The programme consists of workshops that take place throughout the academic year in an urban campus organised at the Foundation's headquarters with the aim of reinforcing skills such as self-knowledge and communication.
Characteristics and description of the Campus
One of the aims of the Rafael del Pino Foundation is to contribute to the training of Spanish leaders, both present and future, and to promote entrepreneurial activity.
The Foundation is relaunching the initiative it developed in previous years, in which people with high abilities and similar concerns were able to learn, share and enjoy together.
In this edition we will again have a maximum of 80 places, with similar contents, although with the adaptation of knowledge and learning for each student so that students who have already enjoyed the campus can attend, as well as new candidates.
We will have training workshops, skills and competences workshops, leisure programme and sports activities. All this in an exceptional environment.
Who can participate?
Participants will be young people identified and accredited as "high ability", aged between 10 and 18 years (calendar year).
The training and leisure programme will include workshops on personal and social skills aimed at improving competences such as: creativity and innovation, teamwork, leadership, initiative, self-confidence and entrepreneurship.
Where and when?
The Campus will take place in "El Salugral", a centre located in Hervás (Cáceres), between Sunday 4th and Thursday 15th July.
Parents must accompany their children on Sunday the 4th first thing in the morning to the Rafael del Pino Foundation’s headquarters, located at 39 Calle Rafael Calvo – on the corner of Paseo de la Castellana, 37 – in Madrid, and collect them on Thursday the 15th. Families are invited to the same venue to attend the Campus closing session, where the children will showcase and present the projects they have been working on (from 5 pm to 7 pm), and to collect the participants.
The Campus, in addition to those responsible for academic and skills/abilities training, will have a monitor for every 10 students, who will accompany them in leisure and sports activities.
The programme includes breakfast, mid-morning fruit, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. It is important that parents inform the organisers if their son or daughter has any food allergies or intolerances as well as any medications or special care (declaration of illnesses or pathologies).
For your peace of mind, Hervás has a medical service and a point of continuous care. The hospital is 20 minutes away.
Pre-registration
In the first call for applicationsYou can pre-register by filling out the following form the application before 31 December 2026, via this platform and by means of this form
It is important to note the concerns of the pupil, parents and the assessment of a teacher or tutor at their school.
In addition, the assessment report attesting to high ability and the last available report card (and another one, if that gives information about how the pupil is doing) must be attached.
Our aim is to get to know the candidate as well as possible. For this reason we will also have a personal interview.
The Rafael del Pino Foundation is making an enormous effort to offer a campus of these characteristics and, in the same way, asks families to take joint responsibility so that, between all of us, we assume the cost to make this project a reality.
The Selection Committee will meet to assess the applications and determine the amounts to be allocated to each family.
NO PARENTS' VISITING DAY
Attendance breaks the rhythm of the day's activities, as well as being an inconvenience for all those young people who do not receive visitors.
After the Campus
Students will be invited to various workshops throughout the academic year in order to maintain contact, share activities and incorporate new knowledge and skills. They will be able to share concerns with young scientists or entrepreneurs, take part in improvisation workshops, creative writing, financial education, participate in a Communication and Leadership Seminar, participate in a workshop on behaviours and beliefs and other dynamics...
Workshops
Academic Coordination
Almudena Díez
Director of Training Programmes at the Rafael del Pino Foundation.
Teaching Team
Francisco Salcines CalzadillaFrancisco Salcines Calzadilla is CEO and partner at Oratoria Peithon. He holds degrees in Labour Relations and Human Resources from Rey Juan Carlos University, as well as in Administration and Finance and Commerce and Marketing.
- Nacho Gallardo
He holds a degree and MBA from ESADE, specialising in Marketing, Sales and Business Strategy. International experience in Marketing Agency (5 years between Paris and London). Academic collaborator at ESADE and lecturer on the ESIC MBA, where he also coordinates the Investment forum and advises the investors' club.
Private investor in start-ups in different accelerators and incubators, as well as an active speaker. He has been an entrepreneur and Director in the field of consulting.
- Joan Riera
Joan Riera is a consultant, teacher, innovator, investor, writer and speaker, known for his ability to connect with people, his intense passion, and his obsession with finding entrepreneurial ways to generate positive change in the world. Joan has over 20 years of business success in the corporate world, as well as in entrepreneurship through the creation of 8 companies (the first at the age of 23). Joan has had the honour of participating in over 400 projects and helping more than 50,000 executives in over 60 countries transform and energise their lives and organisations. To fulfill this mission she founded Active Development in 2010, a boutique consulting firm that offers advice on growth management, innovation, corporate entrepreneurship and sales. He currently pilots the company as President and is involved in projects at the tactical level.
Joan has always been characterised by his enthusiasm and passion for academia, as well as his commitment to developing and empowering leaders. For more than 20 years his teaching activity has focused on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Lean Startup, Leadership, Strategy and General Management at ESADE Business School. He participates in benchmark programmes such as MSC, MBA or EMBA, as well as in flagship programmes such as "The Journey Transformation" in collaboration with Singularity University or tailor-made programmes for executives in companies such as Telefónica, Boston Scientific, Puig, Grupo Planeta, Pfizer, Repsol, La Caixa, LIDL, Danone, Porsche, Novartis, BBVA, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Abbott, Solvay or Adif.
At ESADE, he also held various executive positions at the school and, as an intrapreneur, was co-founder and first CEO of ESADE CREAPOLIS, a business park that accelerates innovation in corporations and startups, and co-founder of ESADE BAN, one of the most prestigious business angel networks in Europe.
He is a prolific author who regularly speaks at conferences, media appearances and publications. Joan is recognised as an expert in Corporate Entrepreneurship for his methodology of the 5 levers that is embodied in his latest book IMPULSO, offering an accessible and comprehensive system to establish intrapreneurship in organisations.
Concerned with supporting initiatives with social impact, Joan is proud to have designed and implemented several programmes, not only for governments and institutions, but also for foundations and NGOs, such as a programme for highly skilled entrepreneurs or an accelerator for disabled entrepreneurs.
- Francesc Sabaté i Domènech
Francesc Sabaté i Domènech is an Electrical Industrial Engineer by the UPC and Master in Automated Production and Robotics by the CIM UPC.
He is currently director of the Master's Degree in Automated Production and Robotics at the CIM UPC, where he also advises on automation projects and new lines of training. He is also general manager of TEDELOC, a company specialising in industrial automation projects and consultancy, OT/IT systems integration and information management. She has been developing and managing automation projects and vertical integration of production systems information for more than twenty years. Prior to this, Emily co-founded Pangaea Explorations, to enable scientists, filmmakers and ordinary people to access the most remote parts of our planet; collecting data on global issues and, along the way, discovered previously unknown ocean gyres, huge accumulation zones of plastic pollution.
Previous editions
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