University Pompeu Fabra - OCC/UPF (Spain)

URL: http://www.upf.edu/occ/en/

The Universitat Pompeu Fabra was founded on 18 June 1990, The Catalonia Parliament gave the go-ahead for the creation of a new public university in Catalonia, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, inspired by the principles of freedom, democracy, justice, equality, independence and plurality.

From its beginnings, this young academic institution has set itself two main objectives: to train professionals and citizens who are responsible and committed to civic values, and to contribute towards the development of research.

The first lectures at UPF were given on 8 October 1990 in the Balmes Building, once the site of the Fòrum Vergés. They were attended by some 300 students of the new Four-Year Degrees in Law and Economics and Business Sciences.

Today it has 7,000 students, courses in all fields –from experimental, health and life sciences to human and social sciences and technical studies– and an expanding campus in the heart of the city, stretching between the Rambla and the district of Poblenou.

The Science Communication Observatory (Observatori de la Comunicació Científica, OCC) is a Special Research Centre attached to the Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication of the UPF, Barcelona, set up in 1994 by a joint initiative of the Universities, Research and Information Society Department of the Catalan Autonomous Government and the UPF. The centre specialises in the study and analysis of the transmission of scientific, medical and technological knowledge to society.

Key People