Universitat Pompeu Fabra

UPF is a public, international and research-intensive university that, in just twenty-five years, has earned a place for itself among the best universities in Europe. Awarded with a CEI label (International Excellence Campus) by the Spanish Ministry of Education, the University also figures in some of the most influential rankings.

On 18 June 1990, Catalan Parliament gave the go-ahead for the creation of a new public university in Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra University, inspired by the principles of freedom, democracy, justice, equality, independence and plurality. From its beginnings, this young academic institution set itself two main objectives: to train responsible professionals and citizens fully committed to civic values, and to contribute towards the development of outstanding research.

The first lectures at UPF were given on 8 October 1990 in Balmes building, once the site of the Fòrum Vergés. They were attended by around 300 students of the new degrees in Law and Economics and Business Sciences. Today, UPF offers its studies around three areas of knowledge: the social sciences and humanities, the health and life sciences, and the ITC and communication sciences. To develop its activity, the University has been structured into seven schools, a Polytechnic School and eight departments. Meanwhile, in recent years UPF has also been participating in a set of institutions and specialized centres focused on teaching, research and transfer activities, centres with legal personality and that constitute the UPF Group.

Moreover, in order to promote research and transfer activities undertaken by university researchers and provide them with greater international visibility, the University has developed the UPF Research Park in the fields of social sciences, humanities, communication and information technologies. The UPF Research Park, which develops its activity at Ciutadella and Poblenou campuses, coordinates its activities in the fields of health and life sciences with the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, located at Mar campus.

Thus, thanks to the development of these three campuses and science parks, the University has contributed to the regeneration of some areas in Barcelona as well as the promotion of new areas of creation and transfer of knowledge. Examples of this activity can be found, for example, in the rehabilitation of the Dipòsit de les Aigües, the current Library, or in the former army barracks in Wellington Street, nowadays occupied by the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and the Pasqual Maragall Foundation (Ciutadella campus). Also, through the opening to the sea in the nineties, with the Olympics and the regeneration of the Vila Olímpica (Mar campus) or the regeneration of Ca l'Aranyó, the old textile factory placed in 22@ (Poblenou campus). We should neither forget the building in plaça de la Mercè, headquarter of the Rector's office, in Ciutat Vella; the Born building, that hosts the UPF Foundation, or the Balmes building, main building of UPF Barcelona School School of Management, among others.

Our university is young, modern and unequivocally public. As you browse this website, you will find information on an institution that the Catalan government founded in 1990 to offer training of the very highest quality, and which has seen its research activity increase substantially since then.

The result today is a specialized university that has interconnected a unique approach to teaching with cutting-edge research, revolving around three closely linked spheres of knowledge, namely social sciences and humanities (at the Ciutadella campus), information and communication sciences and technologies (at the Poblenou campus) and health and life sciences (at the Mar campus). To carry out all that activity, the University is organized into seven faculties, a polytechnic school and eight departments. In recent years, meanwhile, the University has also been part of the UPF Group, a network of institutions and centres specializing in education, research and transfer, each of which has its own legal personality and brings added value to our university project.

With a view to boosting the impetus and raising the international profile of research and transfer activities initiated within UPF, the University has developed the UPF Research Park, which works in the fields of social sciences, humanities, communication and IT. Located on the Ciutadella and Poblenou campuses, the UPF Research Park operates in coordination with the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, which is based on the Mar campus and works in the fields of health and life sciences.

To keep this message brief, I would like to conclude by encouraging you to use the information on this website to find out all about our institution, and by inviting you to visit our campuses and interact with our community. Each individual's participation helps us ensure that our university constantly improves.