Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is known for its excellence in research and quality in teaching, and is a reference centre in Europe. The UAB is located only 25 minutes via public transportation from Barcelona’s city centre, a cosmopolitan metropolis lying on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The main campus is located in Bellaterra, in the heart of one of the main industrial and technological poles of Mediterranean Europe.

The UAB caters to all aspects of university life. The campus is a true city of knowledge with almost 50,000 inhabitants: students, lecturers, researchers and administrative staff. It is organised with all the necessary services for the university community: residence halls (2,100 places), specialised libraries, a language learning centre, sport facilities (with a gym, pools, football pitch, etc.), healthcare centre, restaurants, stores and cafés.

The UAB offers top-level postgraduate and graduate programmes in almost all areas of knowledge:

• 87 bachelor's degrees. Its international dimension can also be seen by the high number of students from abroad enrolled (1,469 international bachelor’s degree students). The degrees in Business Management and Administration, Economics, Primary Education and Tourism are offered fully in English, and many other degrees offer subjects in English.
• 315 Master’s Degrees, whose aim is to provide students with an advanced-level, specialised, multidisciplinary education oriented towards both professional specialisation and research initiation.
• 68 PhD programmes, providing advanced training in research techniques, culminating in a doctoral thesis (1,114 PhD theses in 2015-2016). They involve preparing and defending a thesis and usually last three years, with the aim of producing top-level academic and professionals. A total of 27 of the UAB’s PhD programmes have received an Excellence Award. The European Doctoral Research Component includes stays in different European countries and the participation of lecturers from foreign universities.

The international dimension of the UAB can be seen by the number of students enrolled from abroad, especially in master's degrees with 2,105 international students (35%), and PhD programmes with 1,692 international students (33%). There are over 45 master's degrees taught 100% in English. 

The UAB promotes innovation, employability and entrepreneurship. It strives to foster research and transfer in all areas of knowledge and works closely together with the surrounding business and industrial community, as well as with scientific centres such as the Alba Synchrotron Light Facility, located five minutes away from campus.

The UAB campus includes 351 research groups, 57 departments and 68  research institutes and centres, many of which were created in collaboration with important scientific institutions, and all of which conduct a large amount of research activities (3,316 articles published in indexed journals according to 2015, Thomson Reuters WOK). Research activities are also carried out in the five UAB-affiliated hospitals, three of which have been awarded the Carlos III Health Institute’s seal of excellence.

The university actively encourages the involvement and participation of its students in volunteering activities and community service, and has been recognised by several institutes for these tasks. It also carries out awareness-raising campaigns among the university community.

The UAB facilitates participation in mobility programmes and works to attract students from abroad (3,546 international mobility students). Its most important projects are Erasmus Mundus, Comenius, Leonardo Da Vinci and Erasmus K2. It also has specific programmes which welcome and aid international students once they arrive at the UAB. Under the Erasmus programme alone, the UAB has 1,300 bilateral agreements with more than 500 universities in Europe.

Figures from 2015-2016