Francesc Torres, elected rector of the UPC, according to final results

Professor Francesc Torres Torres
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Professor Francesc Torres Torres

Biographical note

Francesc Torres was rector of the UPC from December 2017 to June 2021, and director of the Department of Signal Theory and Communications from 2013 to 2017.

Born in Sant Joan de Labritja (Ibiza) in 1962, he obtained his degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Barcelona School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSETB) in 1988 and his doctoral degree at the Department of Signal Theory and Communications in 1992. In 2010, he became a full professor of the UPC, where he carries out his teaching and research tasks in radiocommunications, high frequency circuits and Earth observation. He began his professional career at the European Space Agency (ESA, Netherlands, 1988) and joined the UPC as an adjunct professor at the ETSETB in 1989. In the field of teaching, he served as assistant director of studies at the ETSETB (1998-2000) and coordinated the MERIT international master’s degree (Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Research on Information and Communication Technologies, 2006-2009). He received the Award for Improving Quality in University Teaching (1997) of the UPC’s Board of Trustees for the Radiation and Guided Wave Laboratory at the ETSETB.

Since 1994, as a member of the UPC’s Remote Sensing research group (RSLab), he has taken part in more than 50 industry projects as a scientific and technological advisor for the development, characterisation and monitoring of the SMOS sensor (European Space Agency), the first satellite led by Spanish industry (EADS CASA Espacio). Since its launch in November 2009, the SMOS mission has continuously provided radiometric measurements to study the water cycle, improve climate models and forecast weather. This work has resulted in over 200 co-authored publications in prestigious international journals and conferences, and multiple awards for the research group: the Duran Farell Award from the UPC’s Board of Trustees (2000), the Ciutat de Barcelona Award (2001), the Salvà i Campillo Award (2004) from the Catalan Association of Telecommunications Engineers (2004) and the Cristòfol Juandó Award in Aeronautics from the Barcelona City Council (Festa del Cel, 2011). In this same context, he was founding vice-president of the SMOS Barcelona Expert Centre for Ocean Salinity and Radiometric Calibration (2007-2010). He is currently a member of the UPC’s CommSensLab, a 2017-2020 María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence.

As part of the Spanish Ministry of Education’s mobility programme, he took a sabbatical year at NASA (Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech, 2005-2006, California), where he served as an external advisor on the GeoSTAR project, a geostationary sensor for atmospheric monitoring.

In the professional field, between 2000 and 2002 he helped establish the Official Association of Telecommunications Engineers of Catalonia (COETC), supporting its technical secretariat. In this context, up to 2002 he contributed to various initiatives to promote the profession and professional development of ETSETB graduates, including the organisation and drafting of the reports “75 proposals for developing the information society in Catalonia” and “Study of the socio-professional situation of telecommunications engineers, 2002.” He also helped organise and moderate the Telecommunications and Local Government Conferences, held in 2002 across Catalonia in collaboration with provincial and regional councils.

Professor Francesc Torres has been elected/reelected as rector of the UPC, according to the early/provisional results of the voting held from 13 to 16 May. Torreshas been elected with 53.280% of the weighted votes, factoring in blank ballots, ahead of candidate Daniel Crespo, who received 36.161%. The result will become provisional after being ratified by the University’s Electoral Board at its meeting today.

May 21, 2025

On May 21, Francesc Torres Torres was proclaimed candidate elected to the rectorial election of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC). According to the final results, after being confirmed by the University's Electoral Board, Francesc Torres obtained the following results:

  • permanent teaching and research staff with PhDs: 26.74 % of the weighted votes (552 weighted votes)
  • other teaching and research staff: 7.30 % of the weighted votes (556 weighted votes)
  • bachelor’s and master’s students: 14.94 % of the weighted votes (1.986 weighted votes)
  • administrative and service staff: 4.31 % of the weighted votes (574 weighted votes)
    RESULTS: 3.668 votes, 53.280 %

Candidate Daniel Crespo obtained the following results:

  • permanent teaching and research staff with PhDs: 19.32 % of the weighted votes (399 weighted votes)
  • other teaching and research staff: 5.24 % of the weighted votes (399 weighted votes)
  • bachelor’s and master’s students: 7.18 % of the weighted votes (955 weighted votes)
  • administrative and service staff: 4.42 % of the weighted votes (588 weighted votes)
    RESULTS: 2.341 votes, 36.161%

As for voter turnout, the overall percentage of the university community who voted was 20.01%. In total, 6.775 votes were cast, of which 766 were blank. Turnout by group was: 84.65% of permanent teaching and research staff with PhDs, 27.49% of other teaching and research staff, 11.95 % of bachelor’s and master’s students and 72.37% of administrative and service staff.

In comparison, voter turnout for the 2021 election was 18.86%, and 12.47% in 2017.

More information on the results is available at eleccionsrectorat2025.upc.edu

Francesc Torres stated: “We have put forward an inspiring proposal that has received broad support from the university community. The UPC must continue to play a key role in the reindustrialisation of our country and, in this context, we will align the education we provide to our students with the Catalan productive sector to support better professional development.”

The candidacy
The team presented by Francesc Torres includes the following members:

  • Jordi Berenguer, vice-rector for Transfer, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  • Neus Cónsul, general secretary
  • Pedro Díez, vice-rector for Research
  • Agustín Fernández, vice-rector for Digital Strategy
  • Elena Fernández, vice-rector for Architecture and Campus Sustainable Development
  • Santiago Gasó, vice-rector for Academic and Language Policy
  • María José Jiménez, vice-rector for Teaching and Students
  • Ariadna Llorens, vice-rector for Social Responsibility and Equality
  • Vega Pérez, vice-rector for Quality
  • Jordi Romeu, vice-rector for Teaching and Research Staff
  • Santiago Silvestre, vice-rector for University Policy
  • Andreas Sumper, vice-rector for International Policy

The 2025 Election Process

The election for rector of the UPC was held electronically and took place from 13 to 16 May. A total of 33,852 members of the university community were called to vote: 1,244 permanent teaching and research staff with PhDs; 3,881 other teaching and research staff; 26,704 bachelor’s and master’s degree students; and 2,023 technical, management, administrative and service staff.

This election was the first to reflect significant changes brought about by the new Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System (LOSU). Since the updated UPC Statutes were not yet in force and pending publication in the Official Gazette of the Catalan Government (DOGC), the 2012 Statutes still governed the election. Key changes include the eligibility criteria*, which now require candidates to be full-time, permanent teaching and research staff with PhDs, three six-year research periods, three five-year teaching periods and four years of university management experience in a single-person position.

The length of the term of office has also changed: it is now a single, non-renewable six-year term, as established by the LOSU. Additionally, blank ballots are taken into account when tallying the results of the first round of voting.

Vote weighting coefficient
The election at the UPC, still governed by the 2012 Statutes, was held by weighted universal suffrage, and all registered members of the UPC community were entitled to vote. The vote weighting coefficient is as follows: permanent teaching and research staff with PhDs 51%, other teaching and research staff 14%, bachelor’s and master’s students 24% and technical, management, administrative and service staff 11%.

According to article 51.2 of the Organic Law on the University System (LOSU), a candidate will be elected rector in the first round if they receive more than half of the valid votes cast, after applying the weightings assigned to each voting group and factoring in blank ballots. If more than one candidate is running and none obtains more than half of the votes, a second round must be held.

In the second round, the winner is the candidate with a simple majority, again based on the same weightings and excluding blank votes.

* According to decision JEU/2025/01/03 of the UPC’s Electoral Board, single-person management roles are those defined in the 2012 Statutes and related regulations referenced in articles 79, 82, 86, 89 and 92 of the 2012 Statutes, as well as the general guidelines for drafting internal regulations of schools, departments and research institutes, including the Doctoral School and the Institute of Education Sciences.