University of Granada

Welcome to the University of Granada, We are an innovative and comprehensive research University, founded in 1531, and built on a long-standing teaching tradition, the roots of which can be traced back to the madrasahs of the Nasrid dynasty of Granada. As a forward-looking historical University located at various sites throughout Granada, the UGR is deeply engaged with today’s city, province and surrounding region, playing a leading role in the recovery and conservation of Granada’s magnificent historical and cultural heritage sites. Moreover, we have a vibrant presence in the local economy, where we represent 4.7% of the provincial GDP.

With over 60,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 6,000 staff, the UGR has a powerful presence in a city of 250,000 inhabitants. Its role as leader in incoming and outgoing student and staff mobility in European and international programmes, and its attractiveness for international students and researchers, make for multicultural campus life and a lively cosmopolitan setting. Over the course of the current academic year 2017-2018, 2600 new international undergraduate students from over 70 countries will complete studies at the UGR, thanks to the diverse range of mobility programmes on offer at our Institution.

The UGR is the highest-ranked University in the South of Spain and the 2nd highest-ranked in Spain according to the prestigious Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU 2017). This substantial international standing in both research and education is the reason behind the success of our BioTic excellence initiative, jointly managed by the University, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Health Sciences Technology Park. The excellence initiative was built on four major pillars of research excellence: Biohealth, Information and Communication Technologies, Earth Sciences, and Heritage, reflecting some of the University’s key research strengths. With its fifty supporting partners, the initiative is an excellent example of the University’s policy of strong strategic cooperation with public and private, national and international bodies.

The state-of-the-art Health Sciences Technology Park, which houses the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine, offers a cutting-edge combination of teaching, research, healthcare and knowledge transfer, and is a significant example of the University’s commitment to innovation and to local and global partnerships with both the public and the private sectors.

The University’s campuses in the North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla make it one of the few genuinely intercontinental universities in the world, leaving it perfectly placed to fulfil the role of a bridge between Europe and North Africa on the one hand, and Europe and Latin America on the other. This strategic cooperation is central to the UGR’s vigorous internationalization strategy, which maintains strong consolidated partnerships around the world, including through prestigious networks such as the Coimbra Group and the Iberoamerican University Association for Postgraduate Studies (AUIP).

The University of Granada is a public university situated in the historical city of Granada, which lies just 35km from the spectacular Sierra Nevada mountain range and 65km from the tropical Mediterranean coast. The University was officially founded by the Emperor Charles V in the year 1531, and built on a centuries-old teaching tradition dating back to the madrasahs of the Nasrid dynasty of Granada. Accordingly, it is one of the most significant universities in Europe in terms of its historical importance.

Since its founding, the UGR has expanded on a par with the city, with its faculties and schools distributed throughout the metropolitan area. Five of the UGR’s seven campuses are spread out across the city of Granada, giving it an unmistakable university atmosphere. Meanwhile, the University’s campuses in the North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla make it one of the few genuinely intercontinental universities in the world. It also maintains strong historical ties with institutions and universities in Latin American, leaving it perfectly placed to fulfil the role of a bridge between Europe and Latin America on the one hand, and between Europe and North Africa on the other.

As well as working constantly to enrich the city culturally, the UGR is fully committed to its policy of recovering, restoring and conserving buildings of historical worth in the city. “La Madraza” (1349), the “Hospital Real” (home to the UGR’s Rectorate) and the Faculties of Law, Translation and Interpreting, and Communication and Documentation are all housed in spectacular buildings of considerable historical significance. Indeed, given its increasingly influential role in the life of Granada over the past 500 years, the University has come to define the city architecturally, culturally and economically.

Approximately 75,000 individuals – students, researchers, lecturers, and administrative and support staff – are directly linked to the UGR, making it the 4th largest university in Spain. This university community has turned Granada, with its 250,000 inhabitants, into a vibrant and cosmopolitan city.

Every year, an additional 8,000 students enrol on non-regulated, language, continuous learning and summer courses, alongside approximately 60,000 students who complete online courses with our University, reflecting the vast scope of the UGR’s influence in the higher education sector.

The UGR is widely recognized internationally for its quality in higher education, teaching, research and outreach. National and international rankings reflect the UGR’s position among the top universities in Spain and among the best in the world.

In 2017, the University of Granada has further consolidated this dominant position – taking 268th place in the world and 2nd in Spain in the recently published Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU 2017). The UGR is second only to the University of Barcelona in the ARWU, outperforming – for the second year running – other important Spanish institutions such as the Complutense University of Madrid, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the University of Valencia and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Particularly noteworthy are the UGR’s achievements in the subjects of Food Science & Technology (30th worldwide) and Computer Science & Engineering (33rd worldwide). Moreover, our University is ranked among the top 151-200 global institutions in the subjects of Electronical Engineering, and Instruments Science, as well as among the top 201-300 universities in Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Science & Engineering, and Agricultural Sciences. Given this exceptional performance in the prestigious ARWU, the academic year 2017-2018 promises to be another momentous era for our Institution.

The state-of-the-art Health Sciences Technology Park, which houses the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine, offers a cutting-edge combination of teaching, research, healthcare and knowledge transfer, and is a significant example of the University’s commitment to innovation, as well as to promoting local and global partnerships with the public and the private sectors.

This year also saw the founding of four new University spin-offs; bringing the total number to 78. These spin-offs are pivotal in guaranteeing effective knowledge transfer processes from our University, ensuring that research findings are successfully exploited and turned into innovative new services and products.