HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT:
The first Chair of Microbiology in a Science Faculty in Spain was created at the University of Barcelona in 1963. It had a different orientation to that of existing Chairs in Microbiology, which were in Faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy and Veterinary Science. For the first time it took a global view of the field of Biology as a whole, especially in relation to the recent developments in Biochemistry and Genetics. Indeed, although somewhat belated, it formed part of a process that had already begun in scientifically more advanced countries.
Dr. Ramon Parés occupied the new Chair of Microbiology at the University of Barcelona in 1964. This led the way to the establishment of the Department of Microbiology in 1968.
Although the economic situation was precarious at the end of the nineteen sixties, a core of researchers formed around the study of bacterial physiology and genetics.
At the beginning of the seventies the new Department began to come into line with other departments of Microbiology at other universities around the world in terms of both the training of teachers at other universities, generally abroad, and the continuous international co-operation. During the nineteen eighties the Faculty of Biology moved to a new building and later the Spanish government introduced new legislation on science. This brought the Department up to the standard of universities in other European countries and in the USA, both in terms of the fields of research and the results obtained.
Research in the Department focuses on fundamental and applied studies in Bacteriology and Virology. The diversity of research activities is one of the riches of the Department, since it provides the potential with which to face the main challenges of the Microbiology in the present century.
