Since it was founded in the year 1450, the University of Barcelona has been a leading centre of education, science and critical thought. The quality of its teaching and research, which have won recognition both inside and outside Spain, complements the UB’s commitment to serving the interests of local society and the country as a whole, and combines with a demonstrably dynamic, constructive and humanist character that permeates the daily activities of the institution.

Demand from prospective students consistently exceeds the offer of places, with more than 64.000 students enrolling each year at one of the UB’s six campuses. In the academic year 2013-2014, students were distributed across 66 bachelor’s degrees, 139 university master’s degrees, 73 doctoral programmes, over 600 postgraduate courses and some 400 on-site and distance lifelong learning courses.

As a research institution, the UB is among the leading Spanish universities in the principal international rankings. It is the only Spanish university ranked among the 200 leading universities in the world and the 100 best universities in Europe. Thanks to its research progress, the UB plays a predominant role in achieving scientific, technological, intellectual and cultural progress in Catalonia.

The University of Barcelona is also actively involved in the work of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and has fully consolidated the actions of its two campuses of international excellence. These initiatives, now into their fifth and fourth years, respectively, serve to bolster institutional policies on research, knowledge transfer and internationalization.

The figures presented here summarize the UB’s actions and activities over the last academic year:

· 10.698 references to the UB’s scientific activity in the written press.

· 4.998 scientific publications.

· 40 patent applications.

· 3 new technology- based spin-offs.

· For the academic year 2014 – 2015, 14.397 students have chosen the UB as their first option.

· 54.723.708 euros generated by the UB Group through research and technology transfer.