The Universitat de Vic, officially recognized by the Catalan Parliament in May 1997, is unique among the universities of the region in that it belongs to a private foundation whose trustees are composed primarily of the municipal and regional governments. The UVic works to provide teaching and research excellence and is fully committed to its wider social, cultural and economic responsibilities.

The Universitat de Vic was officially recognized by the Catalan Parliament in 1997, but university courses had been taught in the town for two decades prior to this, thanks to an initiative adopted by the Teacher Training College of Osona, now the Faculty of Education. Between 1977 and 1997, studies in Nursing, Business, Engineering, Translation and Interpreting, Business Administration and Tourism were introduced. Today these are all taught in the University’s faculties and centres together with new degree courses in Communication, Health, Sports and Environmental Sciences and Biotechnology. The earliest studies in higher education in Vic, however, were offered at the Cathedral school, the prestige of which spread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages thanks to the work of a number of its masters, including the bishop Atto, a native of Vic. The school was also attended by Gerbert d´Aurillac, who would later become Pope Sylvester II. Yet, the most direct antecedent of the University is the Estudio General, an institution that was to be established as a Literary University in 1599 by the royal charter granted by King Philip III in the Courts of Barcelona. Just over a century later, Vic saw its university closed down in the Nueva Planta Decrees issued by Philip V. The Seminary School made up for the lack of a university and it was here that Jaume Balmes, Jacint Verdaguer and Narcís Verdaguer i Callís, among many other illustrious figures, were educated.

The UVic teaches a wide range of degrees in education, the health sciences, business, translation and interpreting, communication sciences, engineering, and the human sciences. In the 2000-2001 academic year, the UVic introduced the European Credit System into its teaching model. This new approach places greater emphasis on the role played by students in their learning, and stresses the importance of closely supervising students’ work. The system also provides greater flexibility in the subjects offered so as to reflect students’ interests more closely and a greater appreciation of the overall task that students have to contend with in order to achieve success. Today, a number of complete degree programs are taught using these methods, and they are gradually being introduced into many subjects on other degree courses. This innovative teaching model places UVic among the most advanced of its European counterparts. Similarly, in the 2000-2001 academic year, the UVic began offering blended courses on its Virtual Campus. These courses do not mean that students are left to study on their own, but rather they receive constant online support. The blended learning courses emphasize, first, the importance of a smaller number of face-to-face sessions organized throughout the year and, second, the building of relations with fellow students and the academic teaching staff which serve as the foundations for the regular monitoring of their learning.

Since its foundation, the UVic has endeavoured to establish a firm foothold in the European research system. Above all it has promoted research in the fields of greatest interest to its academic staff and those that most closely reflect the nature of its geographical and cultural setting. Given the long tradition of university education in Vic, research groups setting up projects in the Humanities and Social Sciences immediately found a place in the Catalan scientific and cultural arena. In these instances, the research groups and their corresponding departments have pioneered PhD courses that broaden and strengthen their study areas. However, the UVic is also increasingly active in the development of projects in Engineering, Science and Mathematics. Environmental Engineering and the Study of Ageing are the University’s two priority research lines. Similarly, as it is located in an agricultural district of Catalonia with a considerable presence in the food industry, the University has also developed lines of research in the fields of Environmental Science and Human Nutrition. Finally, initiatives taken in different areas of engineering have led to projects in Electronics, Applied Mathematics and Computing.

The desire to go on learning throughout life is a feeling expressed by an increasing number of people and the UVic seeks to deliver specialized education of excellence that meets these changing social needs. The University specifically offers lifelong learning courses in Library Science, Education, Business, Health, Translation and Interpreting and Technology. The constant introduction of new technologies, the ability to meet European higher education standards and, in particular, the trust that hundreds of students have shown in UVic make its Lifelong Learning Centre “Aula L3” a dynamic, innovative school of excellence.

The UVic is aware that its students will have to compete in an increasingly global job market, in which the ability of its professionals to act flexibly will be particularly valued. For this reason, the UVic provides students with all the resources they might need to build up a competitive international curriculum. For instance, it provides the opportunity to study or carry out internships in Spain or abroad through exchange programs with other universities in Spain (Sicue), other European universities (Erasmus), American universities and other institutions around the world. The responsibilities of the International Relations Service are: • To promote and organize all activities related to the international mobility of the academic teaching staff, administrative and services employees and students. • To manage international academic cooperation projects and all other programs, agreements, networks and associations that the institution is involved in. • To design and coordinate UVic’s international strategy. • To support initiatives to introduce international undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications.

The UVic makes the best study resources available to its students free of charge, including libraries, computer rooms, a language school, self-access language facilities, an audiovisual service, a sports service and specialized laboratories. More specifically, UVic students have free and unlimited access to 11 computer rooms and enjoy one of the highest student-computer ratios among all Catalan universities. The self-access language centre encourages students to develop their autonomous language learning skills and complements the activities of the UVic Language School. It is fully equipped with multimedia resources to help them improve their proficiency in English, French, German and Catalan. Finally, the audiovisual service provides the materials needed to carry out work requiring the use of sound and image, while the sports service runs a wide range of indoor and outdoor sporting activities.

What makes the UVic different is its unique model of organization within the Catalan university system - a private university with a vocation for public service that is fully independent of any political, economic, social or religious institution. The UVic is the optimum size to guarantee educational efficiency and to ensure students can receive close personal attention from its academic teaching staff. The UVic gives priority to developing its international profile and ensuring students acquire the practical skills to make them competitive in the professional job market. All these qualities are offered in the unique setting of the small historic town of Vic in the heart of Catalonia.

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