The UPC aims to improve the treatment of bone fractures with advanced biomaterials

A research team from the UPC’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering is exploring ways to transform the treatment of bone fractures using smart, advanced biomaterials that can reduce the risk of infection and implant rejection, as well as shorten recovery times. The research is part of the European project HYDROHEAL.

Antoni Tió, honorary doctoral degree holder by the UPC: “At the age of 23 I knew I wanted to make sails. What I wanted was to dress the wind.”

On 16 June, the UPC conferred an honorary doctoral degree on Antoni Tió Sauleda, a nautical industrialist renowned for his innovation in the design and manufacture of sails. Professor Agustí Martin Mallofré, dean of the Barcelona School of Nautical Studies (FNB), conducted the event, which took place at the School.

The UPC, Spain’s leading university in six classifications in the 2025–2026 Best Global Universities Rankings by ‘U.S. News’

Published by U.S. News on 17 June, the latest edition of the Best Global Universities Rankings positions the UPC as Spain’s top university in Engineering and in five subjects: Optics, Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering.

Launch of a European project for monitoring marine biodiversity using an intelligent marine digital twin

SEAMPHONI is a project led by the UPC with the participation of 24 European partners and funding of €11 million from the Horizon Europe programme. It aims to transform the monitoring of marine biodiversity through the creation of an intelligent marine digital twin that will integrate innovative tools such as environmental DNA, acoustics and underwater imaging. The project kick-off meeting was held in Vilanova i la Geltrú on 25 June.

The 1st UPC Artificial Intelligence Challenge expands its scope and extends the registration period to 15 November

The UPC Artificial Intelligence Challenge (IA Challenge) will recognise the best projects applying this technology in any of the University’s fields of knowledge. The competition is open to more than 30,000 UPC bachelor’s and master’s students, who can submit their proposals until 15 November. In addition, partner companies have introduced six new industrial challenges.

El dinar PDI-PTGAS 2024-2025, en imatges

Àlbum d'imatges del tradicional dinar del PDI-PTGAS, que enguany ha tingut lloc dimecres 18 de juny, als jardins de Torre Girona, i ha aplegat més de 200 persones.

UPC master's degrees: Engineering, Architecture, Science and Technology

Francesc Torres took office as rector of the UPC

Professor Francesc Torres took office as rector of the UPC on 3 June in an event chaired by the minister of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia, Núria Montserrat

Have you launched a tech-based company and need funding? Sign up for Next Frontier Founders

Next Frontier Founders, the programme for start-up acceleration and investment readiness, has opened a new call—running until 15 July—aimed at all students and members of the UPC community. In addition to training and mentoring, the programme offers one-to-one meetings with investors. Participating start-ups and spin-offs also have the chance to pitch their business projects at the UPC Pitching Session during 4YFN 2026 or to have a presence at this international benchmark fair for entrepreneurship. This year, the call is supported by the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub, and registrations can be submitted through the Hub’s website:

7 tonnes of plastic waste end up along the Barcelona coastline every year, according to a UPC and UB study

A research team from the UPC and the UB has spent two and a half years monitoring the Barcelona coastline to quantify the scale of floating marine litter and to identify transport flows and accumulation zones for plastic waste. The results of the study were presented at an event held on the UPC’s North Diagonal Campus on 20 May.

Elections for rector 2025: voting takes place from 13 to 16 May

The candidates for UPC rector are professors Daniel Crespo Artiaga and Francesc Torres Torres. From today, 13 May, until 16 May, voting takes place by electronic ballot on the website eleccionesrectorat2025.upc.edu. The provisional results will be made public on 16 May. A candidate will be elected in the first round if they receive more than half of the valid votes, after applying the weightings assigned to each voting group and factoring in blank ballots. If none of the candidates reaches this threshold, a second round will be held between them. In the second round, the winner is the candidate with a simple majority, again based on the same weightings and excluding blank votes.

The UPC once again at the IoT Solutions World Congress

From 13 to 15 May, the UPC, through the CIT-UPC, is showcasing cutting-edge projects and solutions in the fields of IoT, AI and digital transformation.

New method developed to identify regions at high risk of compound flooding along the Spanish Mediterranean coast

A joint research effort by the UPC and the UGR has developed an innovative method to detect and classify areas at high risk of compound flooding—flooding caused by a combination of intense rainfall, river overflows and coastal events such as storms and heavy waves. The study, published in Communications Earth & Environment, has identified three particularly vulnerable regions: central Valencia, northern Catalonia and western Andalusia.

On 8 May, electoral debate between Daniel Crespo and Francesc Torres, candidates for rector of the UPC

On May 8 at 4 p.m., candidates for rector of the UPC Daniel Crespo and Francesc Torres faced off in an electoral debate in the Auditorium of the Vèrtex building, located on the Diagonal Nord Campus in Barcelona. The event was broadcast live on YouTube. ...

The UPC returns to normal academic activity

The UPC is resuming its academic activity with full normality on all its campuses from Wednesday, April 30th.

The UPC, Spain’s leading university for European patent filings

The UPC is the Spanish university that filed the highest number of European patent applications in 2024, according to data from the European Patent Office. The UPC’s filings rose by more than 30% compared to the previous year.

Citizen science and numerical modelling to tackle marine plastic pollution and improve environmental management

The UPC’s Maritime Engineering Laboratory is taking part in a European project aimed at improving the management of plastic pollution in the north-western Mediterranean and raising public awareness about the importance of protecting the marine environment.

Sustainable 3D printing resins developed from plant-based materials

A team from the UPC and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia has developed polymeric resins derived from plant-based materials aimed at reducing 3D printing’s reliance on fossil fuel-based resins. The research findings have been published in 'RSC Applied Polymers', a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The Interdisciplinary Research Institute of Architecture (IRIA-UPC) is presented in Barcelona

On 1 April, the UPC presented the Interdisciplinary Research Institute of Architecture (IRIA-UPC) with the aim of promoting and strengthening research, innovation and knowledge transfer in architecture, urban planning and building. IRIA-UPC, which brings together architects, urban planners and technical architects, is a pioneering institute within the university system and aspires to become an international benchmark in these fields.

The UPC in the world’s top 25 for Architecture and top 50 for Space and Planetary Sciences, according to the Scimago World Institutions Rankings

The UPC is listed among the world’s top 25 in Architecture and top 50 in Space and Planetary Sciences, according to the Scimago World Institutions Rankings. In total, the UPC is listed among the top 100 universities worldwide in nine rankings and leads the national rankings in Spain in Engineering, Computer Science, Energy, Mathematics, Aerospace Engineering, Architecture and Mechanical Engineering. At the institutional level, the UPC also leads Spain’s university system in innovation.

The UPC among the world’s top 50 in Architecture and Art History in the 2025 QS Rankings by Subject

The 2025 QS World University Rankings by Subject rank the UPC the world’s 38th in Architecture and Built Environment and in the 21–40 band in Art History. The rankings also place the University among the world’s top 100 in the broad subject area of Engineering and Technology and in the subjects of Industrial, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; and Civil and Structural Engineering.

The UPC leads an innovative project within Unite! to tackle climate challenges in cities

The project “Cities in times of drought or abundance”, funded by the Unite! Seed Fund and coordinated by the UPC, will gather European experts to develop architectural and urban solutions in response to the effects of climate change.

Five new master’s degrees for the 2025-2026 academic year to train professionals specialised in emerging fields

The UPC is introducing five new master’s degrees for the academic year 2025-2026, addressing the demand for specialised professionals in fields such as digital architecture, distributed energy systems, biomedical technologies, industry 4.0 and water engineering.

New edition of the UPC Research Valorisation Award, supported by Fractus

A new call for applications is open for the UPC Research Valorisation Award, accepting submissions from the UPC’s teaching and research staff until 10 April.

Protecting marine ecosystems from ship-induced noise pollution

The UPC’s Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB) participates in a European project focused on developing technologies to reduce underwater noise pollution caused by maritime traffic, which poses a threat to marine ecosystems. The LAB will assess the effectiveness of noise reduction systems installed on five vessels.

Unite! Seed Fund for students, researchers and professors: call for applications open until 20 March

The 2025 Unite! Seed Fund offers financial support to students, researchers and professors who wish to initiate joint initiatives between at least three Unite! universities. The deadline for all submissions is 20 March.

All the information on UPC postgraduate degrees at the Virtual Postgraduate Fair

The 3rd Virtual Postgraduate Fair kicked off on Monday, March 3, and will run online until March 7, providing information on the range of postgraduate courses offered at the UPC: master’s, doctoral and lifelong learning master’s degrees. Registration remains open throughout the event.

Advancing space exploration: a pioneering experiment in cryogenic fuel management in space

Researchers from the UPC’s Space Exploration Laboratory are contributing to the development of advanced technologies for the storage and refuelling of cryogenic propellants in microgravity conditions. This technology, which will be key to driving space exploration and advancing Europe’s space transportation ecosystem, will be validated through an in-orbit experiment—the first of its kind in Europe.

UPC positions Barcelona as the epicenter of European higher education

Under the motto ‘Unite Students!: our soul, our core,’ this edition will gather 500 participants from the nine universities of the European alliance, focusing on the role of students in its future. The event provides a key opportunity to drive Unite! projects forward and strengthen the collaboration among the alliance’s university communities.

The UPC stops posting on X

On 19 February, the UPC’s Governing Council unanimously approved the decision to cease posting on the University’s institutional profiles on X. This decision reflects the University’s commitment to communicating in spaces that ensure information quality and accuracy.