Universities • Forum

Students from across the EU and the world rate Spanish universities high because of their academic rigor, innovative vision, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Miguel Carmelo PRESIDENT, UNIVERSIDAD EUROPEA

UNIVERSIDAD EUROPEA WAS FOUNDED in 1989, several years before laws for private universities were put in place. They were only made legal after 1993, when Spain joined the EU. Before that, Spain used to have affiliated centers, or private education centers under the control of public universities. The law allowing private universities was passed in 1993, and Universidad Europea applied for a license in 1995. Over the years, private universities have become more attractive for people, especially those looking for a more practical and international academic model. The current team at Universidad Europea came in 2000 and quickly started to change the academic model to one with practical education, rather than just knowledge and theoretical education. This includes soft and professional skills and personal values. We were the first university in Spain to offer programs in English. Currently, all our programs are bilingual or 100% in English. We were also the first university to attract senior professionals from different fields to manage higher education. More than 30% of our long-term students come from outside Spain.

Jaume Casals RECTOR, UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA - BARCELONA (UPF)

UPF WAS CREATED FROM SCRATCH, unlike many other existing universities. This allowed the first managers to select members of staff and professors. In my opinion, this allowed us to grow to where we are now, being a unique university, compressed slightly in a system that we do not like. Despite this adverse environment, we have seen good results. We believe in our faculty. We try to select our faculty, often against the legal system of selection that is in place. This means we cannot practice a tenure-track system because since we are in the public domain, we have to open every call to everyone. In addition, because we want to be selective in who is a permanent member, we have a small number of fulltime professors. We receive around EUR65 million from the government, but our budget is EUR150 million. Moreover, we operate in a rigid legal framework, which implies that we are not allowed to decide our prices or the number of students. We have several difficulties accepting applicants from outside the EU. Our aim is to become an international university and be able to better finance ourselves.

Josep Maria Garrell i Guiu RECTOR, RAMON LLULL UNIVERSITY (URL)

URL IS A PRIVATE, NONPROFIT UNIVERSITY that promotes a public service, grants official titles, and carries out research. URL is a federal institution, and it comprises 10 higher education and research institutions. This federative model means that each of the founder institutions exists in its own right. Some core competences are centralized in the governing bodies of the university; however, all the different institutions are empowered to do those things that can be better managed in close proximity. For example, institutions have the freedom to recruit their own faculty members. URL institutions have the autonomy to develop their own initiatives, while still having a common unifying framework. We offer 41 undergraduate degrees, 60 master’s programs, and 11 doctoral programs. The percentage of international students pursuing their degrees at URL has grown considerably in recent years, reaching 19% in 2018. We have students from more than 100 nationalities. We have signed agreements with universities and companies from around the world to offer our students a true international experience.

Josep Baños Diez RECTOR, UNIVERSITAT DE VICUNIVERSITAT CENTRAL DE CATALUNYA (UVIC-UCC)

UVIC-UCC IS A UNIQUE UNIVERSITY in Catalonia. It started as an initiative of the mayor of Vic, who decided to create the university. We have a strong commitment to act as a public service organization. However, our direction and management are based on a private model. Around 10 years ago, in the middle of the Spanish economic crisis, there was a strategic effort to change our traditional philosophy and as a result, we decided to begin research activities at our campus. We started from zero and built up a good reputation in this short period. For example, according to the CyD ranking, we grew the fastest in Spain in terms of research over the last five years. We now have an important research center in the shape of BETA, which turns residues from animal farms into bio-fertilizers. This is the most important area of research at the university. We also have people working in biotechnology, social sciences, and education.

Margarita Arboix RECTOR, UNIVERSITAT AUTÒNOMA DE BARCELONA (UAB)

OUR RESEARCH WEB IS impressive. We have many international professors, so we have contacts all over the world. We work with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA). We also have autonomous centers such as the Catalan Math Center and the AI Center. We are also in a business axis called HubB-30 with powerful pharmaceutical companies like Esteve, Grifols, Boehringer, and Ferrer. In short, one of the fundamental characteristics of UAB is that its research favors innovation. Spanish universities tend to have few international students, though over 30% of our master’s students and 42% of our PhD students are international. If our university wants to be present and serve society, it is essential that we look for ways to approach the market and understand new challenges. In 2018, we brainstormed ideas about water scarcity and water purification. We brought together sociologists, physicists, and environmental scientists who work in the field, as well as companies dedicated to waste.

Francesc Torres RECTOR, UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA DE CATALUNYA (UPC)

WE CONSIDER OURSELVES the leading technological university in Catalonia. We have between 5,000 and 6,000 graduates a year in the field of engineering, architecture, sciences, and technology, representing 70% of the students in these fields in Catalonia. Our campuses are distributed across six cities: Barcelona, Manresa, Terrassa, Castelldefels, Vilanova i la Geltrú, and Sant Cugat del Vallès. This allows us to have a direct connection with the industrial network of Catalonia. We combine traditional education with teachers who are deeply involved in both European and international projects and companies. We partner with companies on many projects, and the gateway for our students to the labor market is usually through these relationships, practices, and projects. Our annual budget is EUR300 million. Unfortunately, in 2010, the government cut the budget of public universities by 30%. On the bright side, this has forced us to become more efficient in other areas. The advantage is that we remain competitive at a European level with a fraction of the budget of other universities.

Xavier Gil Mur RECTOR, UNIVERSITAT INTERNACIONAL DE CATALUNYA (UIC)

A GROUP OF CATALONIAN FAMILIES and businesspeople who founded the Catalan Family Foundation made the initial investment to establish a private and not-for-profit university with a mission to provide rigorous academic training based on the knowledge produced by research. The university’s ideology is based on Christian humanism; it focuses on respecting academic freedom and puts an emphasis on research as the source of new knowledge. There is an important separation between the academic board and the foundation as guarantor of the economic viability of the university, which is economically sustainable and produces surplus money that is reinvested in the university. We have approximately 16 degrees and more than 60 masters and post-graduate programs. The university has two campuses: Sant Cugat and Barcelona. In total, the university has around 8,000 students. We are not interested in growing anymore but we are currently interested in consolidating and doing much better in terms of both teaching and research. The differentiating factor of our university is that we offer personalized support.