The inauguration of the academic year began with a summary of the 2006-2007 annual report presented by the University’s Secretary-General, Dr Xavier Pons. Dr Pons’ speech was followed by the inaugural lecture, entitled “Teaching and learning mathematics: variations on a theme by Felix Klein”, delivered by Dr Pilar Bayer, Professor of Algebra at the UB. Dr Bayer arranged her lecture in the form of a musical composition – a “theme with variations”. The central theme was the nineteenth-century mathematician, Felix Klein, and the variations were the teaching of mathematics and its utility and practice today.
In the first part of her lecture, Dr Bayer recalled that the mathematical ability of Spanish secondary school students is below the European average. “We cannot say,” she stated, “that this is a country that particularly appreciates mathematics.” But she stressed the benefits of learning the subject: “Studying mathematics helps us to value precision and to develop the qualities of perseverance and patience. Mathematics teaches us to identify errors and find solutions for them.” After tracing Felix Klein’s career in teaching and mathematics, Dr Bayer highlighted the main achievements in the discipline at the University of Barcelona, going as far back as the Estudis Generals of the Middle Ages.
As for the discipline’s utility, Dr Bayer stated that “mathematics has always been used in architecture, engineering and physics, but in recent years its applications have spread to all the sciences. Mathematical concepts underpin the new technologies and form part of the knowledge that has created the information society.” In spite of the importance of mathematics in our society today, Pilar Bayer expressed her “sadness and concern” on seeing post-doctoral students who return from study periods abroad and have to work in areas which do not allow them to “develop their talents.”
In the final part of her lecture, Dr Bayer stated that “the practice of mathematics is not without its dangers” and that “unjustified specialization may convert this science into a great Tower of Babel.” Dr Bayer provided an example of the progress of mathematics with another reference to Felix Klein, and explained that some of the works of the German mathematician, written more than a century and a half ago, live on today in new theorems. “The ease with which we are able to access sources of information and communicate with others should allow fluid dialogue and ensure steady progress in our attempts to create, acquire and transmit knowledge and to resolve concrete problems.”
Dr Bayer ended her lecture by mentioning two basic principles which can be drawn from Felix Klein’s autobiography and which have guided her activity as a teacher, administrator and researcher: “To do a job well, one must do it without anxiety; to plan and complete a task successfully, one must carefully assess the time and the means required, and must act in consequence.”
Following Dr Bayer’s lecture, the special graduation awards were presented and commemorative medals were given to the teaching and administrative and services staff who retired in the 2006-2007 academic year.
Mr Joaquim Coello, President of UB’s Social Council, was the next speaker. In his lecture he analysed the current situation of the university institution and proposed some ideas for improving its functioning. He stressed the need to “measure the quality and the services that universities offer” with respect to the cost they generate and called for the introduction of “economic parameters to measure university performance”. Among the issues that Mr Coello raised was the need to distinguish between running costs and investment. He also stated that the UB’s internal management and governance systems must be improved if it is to compete with the best higher education centres worldwide. Mr Coello stated that the Social Council will take an active part in achieving these goals.
The following speaker, Ms Blanca Palmada, Commissioner for Universities and Research of the Catalan government, described the measures the government is taking in the areas of university funding and university policy. Among the measures she emphasized were the plan for degree qualifications, the plan for investments, the national agreement for research and innovation, the proposal of future legislation for science, and policy regarding teaching and research staff. Ms Palmada also underlined the role of the UB inside the Catalan university system as a whole. For the Commissioner, “the UB excels in research, knowledge transfer and teaching, and has a vital role to play as the leader of Catalonia’s university system. The UB’s research results are excellent, and in the area of teaching it has taken some very positive steps.” Ms Palmada emphasized that the University “also stands out in other areas in which perhaps it has not received the acknowledgement it deserves, such as its promotion of multilingualism and the defence of the right of students to use their own language.”
The ceremony ended with the Rector’s address. Among other issues, Dr Rubiralta mentioned the challenges facing the UB in the new academic year: the planning of the new undergraduate degrees; the consolidation of a framework for quality management throughout the University; increasing student participation in the UB’s strategies for enhancing its image, and the implementation of the funding agreement that will allow the launch of the Alumni UB Foundation, an alumni association similar to those already in operation at many of the leading public universities, and the preparation of the List of Posts (RLT). The RLT will be “the starting point for broader lines of action, such as the assessment of the posts held, provision of aid for training and mobility, the institutional agreement for professional skills-based careers, and a plan for introducing younger staff that is nonetheless respectful of the wishes of the older employees.”
The Rector mentioned the slightly tense political atmosphere of recent months, “which may also have had an effect on university activity and university life.” He stressed the need for “respect, both for our democratic institutions and for freedom of speech; the right to express non-conformity, and the reaction to these expressions of non-conformity on the part of the authorities, must uphold these two basic ideas at all times.”
The Rector went on to describe the commemorations that the UB will celebrate during the 2007-2008 year, such as the 75th anniversary of the University’s Statute of Autonomy. “Beginning with today’s ceremony,” he said, “we plan to organize a series of events which will culminate in a year’s time with the inauguration of the 2008-2009 academic year. These events include the 30th anniversary of the appointment of Antoni M. Badia i Margarit as the first Rector of the UB in the democratic era, and the 25th anniversary of the Spanish University Reform Act (LRU), “which awoke the Spanish university system from its slumbers, and provided the foundations for the modernization of Spain’s universities and their entry into the group of Europe’s leading higher education institutions.”
Continuing the theme of Dr Bayer’s lecture on the teaching and learning of mathematics, the Rector called on society to recognize the importance of this “vital subject” and added that the UB was “particularly interested in the measures to be implemented by the Commission for Universities and Research to promote the studies of experimental and engineering sciences”.
The Rector’s address was particularly incisive in its references to the process of planning university studies and to the recent criticisms levelled at university institutions by the rest of the society. “Clear communication with society is essential,” he said, referring to the planning of degrees, “[...] ideally, this communication will be guided by the joint participation of the government, the university institutions, civil society and the professional sectors. Evidently we must speak of the costs of teaching, but we must also speak of the objectives of the university system, of the need for mechanisms to promote teacher mobility, and of incentives, if we mean to achieve a genuine balance between different geographical areas and to respond effectively to the supply and demand for places. Possibly this agreement between the university and society,” he added, “will require, even more urgently than the area of R+D+i, a joint effort for definition or a national agreement on basic principles.”
Dr Rubiralta went on to speak of some of the criticisms recently levelled at the university institutions: “We have heard far more criticisms than objective analyses of our attempts to introduce improvements and of our commitment to society”. Referring to the negotiations concerning the Plan for University Infrastructures, he noted that “it was reported that the universities had obtained all the funding that they had requested. However, the fact remains that no one has explained how university infrastructures really work.” The Rector said that the universities are still awaiting the distribution of funds and the definition of the strategic projects and also noted that “no date has been set” for the meetings to discuss the long-term investments for the universities’ science and technology parks under the aegis of the Ministry for Education and Science’s funding plans.
The Rector expressed his disappointment at some recent articles published in the press: “There is not a single Spanish university in the world’s top 200...”, “…As for the university rankings, in which not a single Spanish or Catalan institution appears in the first 200 [...]. Responding to these charges, Dr Rubiralta drew the audience’s attention to the results of the rankings that show that “the University of Barcelona is the first of the Spanish universities in the group ranked between 151 and 202” a result that “should help us to highlight areas in which we need to improve, and also areas in which we are performing well”. He repeated his conviction that “the glass is half-full [...] The glass is gradually filling up, not gradually emptying. This is true both of the University of Barcelona and of the Catalan university system as a whole.”
In the last section of his address, the Rector returned to the question of the UB’s funding. “The University of Barcelona has not received adequate funding in recent years. We have demonstrated this to all those who have taken the trouble to analyse the issue objectively, with the report prepared by Dr Anton Costas and published in January 2007.”
The Rector also acknowledged that “some internal decisions, both past and present, have not improved the situation, but the wish of the University of Barcelona [...] is to put in place an economic and financial viability plan in conjunction with the Autonomous Government of Catalonia by the end of 2007. This must be a fair, balanced plan that does justice to the UB’s performance in general, its performance in the specific areas of teaching, research, innovation and knowledge transfer, and the social dimension that our institution has achieved.”
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