Dídac Ramírez has been elected rector of the University of Barcelona after obtaining 53.45% of the weighted votes in the second round of voting, held on Tuesday, 11 November. The other candidate, Josep Samitier, obtained 46.55% of the weighted vote. SEE PHOTOS

On 3 October, the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation celebrated its 25th birthday with a commemorative event presided over by the Secretary of State for Universities, the Minister for Innovation, Universities and Enterprise of the Catalan government, and the Acting Rector of the University of Barcelona. The meeting brought together the worlds of the university and Catalan business. 

The University of Barcelona is again the only university in Spain to figure among the world’s top 200 universities according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2008. The international league table of institutions of higher education, published annually by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ranks the University of Barcelona in 167th position, up three places on last year’s standing.

Tracking the migration of Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), researchers have demonstrated that these birds follow wind highways to cover long distances. These flyways follow a very precise route and, moreover, are only accessible during very specific periods of time. The authors of the study, which was published in the journal PlosOne, are Jacob González-Solís, professor at the Department of Animal Biology at the University of Barcelona, Ángel Felicísimo (Universidad de Extremadura) and Jesús Muñoz (Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC)..