History
- On 18 June 1990, Catalan Parliament gave the go-ahead for the creation of a new public university in Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra University, inspired by the principles of freedom, democracy, justice, equality, independence and plurality.
- From its beginnings, this young academic institution set itself this main objective: to train responsible professionals and citizens fully committed to civic values.
Education
- EDvolution is the education model currently being designed by UPF to adapt to the needs of tomorrow’s professionals, companies and social agents.
- This model aims to provide students with a global vision of the world and encourages an autonomous, proactive approach, with an emphasis on technological literacy and excellent communication skills.
Research
- UPF Research Service mission is to promote knowledge generation at UPF through promotion, advisement and management of the participation in research programmes.
University Ranking
QS World University Rankings by TopUniversities
2025
265 45
2024
310 -77
2023
233
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
World University Rankings by Times Higher Education
2025
-
2024
201 -15
2023
186
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2024
-
2023
301
2022
301
ARWU World University rankings is the first world university ranking. It ranks the world's top 1000 colleges and universities based on objective indicator. They look at the number of award-winning (Fields Medals and Nobel Prize) scientists who are located there, how much of their research is cited and referenced around the world, and how much they've contributed to different academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, ARWU ranks the universities accordingly.
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report
2025
-
2024
269 -73
2023
196
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
Student services
The Student Information Desk offers:
- Information on accessing UPF and also how it operates, its organisation and activities.
- Assistance and advice for carrying out administrative procedures related with your academic lifeand with other activities that take place at UPF.
- Guidance for finding the best solution for your needs.
Housing services
- Since 1997, UPF, together with the rest of the universities in the Province of Barcelona, the Barcelona City Council and the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya), has been collaborating with the Barcelona Centre Universitari (BCU), an organism offering services relating to extracurricular university life for the community of foreign students studying in Barcelona.
- This housing service allows you to search its database and make reservations online for free, can assist you in different languages (Catalan, Spanish, English, French and Italian) and rounds off its services with free legal advice on rental contracts. It also provides short-term rental contract service.
Library services
- Library/CRAI users include all the members of the UPF university community and any other persons expressly authorised by way of agreements reached with individual or organisations.
ICT services
This is a service aimed mainly at students (but which can be used by the whole university community) to resolve the most common IT incidents, such as:
- Access to the network, Wi-Fi and Eduroam
- Your computer set-up
Campus life
At Pompeu Fabra University there are three campuses:
- Ciutadella Campus
- Poblenou Campus
- Mar Campus
Sports facilities
- UPF organizes a plan of theory sessions, which is the Sports Workshop, whose main goal is to offer a debate forum about sports and physical activities to the University Community.
- The UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) has obtained EQUIS accreditation, the most prestigious institutional distinction for business and management schools, which certifies its quality based on rigorous international standards and places it among the elite of business schools.