"575 Voices" Literary Contest

1. Description
As part of the commemoration of the University of Barcelona’s 575 years of history, the 575 Voices Literary Contest: past, present and future of a university that thinks, feels and creates is hereby launched.
The purpose of the contest is to promote literary creation among UB students and to gather, through short stories, their experiences, reflections and perspectives on university life, as well as to highlight the principles and values that characterise the institution.

2. Conditions of participation
The contest is open to individuals who meet all the following requirements:
a) Be an undergraduate, postgraduate, master’s or doctoral student enrolled during the 2025–2026 academic year at the University of Barcelona or at one of its affiliated centres listed below:

• Centre for International Studies (CEI)
• University School of Hospitality and Tourism (CETT)
• School of New Interactive Technologies (ENTI)
• School of Cinema and Audiovisuals of Catalonia (ESCAC)
• Higher School of Public Relations (ESRP)
• Barcelona Culinary Hub (BCH)
• National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (INEFC)
• Institute of Public Security of Catalonia (ISPC)

b) Have UB credentials or an institutional email address from UB or one of its affiliated centres.
c) Submit an original and unpublished short story that has not previously won any other contest.
d) Submit only one work per person.
e) Accompany the story with a brief explanation of the creative process.
f) If artificial intelligence tools were used in the preparation of the story, this must be clearly indicated and their use specified.
Failure to comply with any of these requirements will result in automatic exclusion from the contest.

3. Prizes
Three (3) prizes are established and distributed as follows:

• First prize: €500 in cash and a €100 voucher for a collaborating bookshop.
• Second prize: €200 in cash and a €50 voucher for a collaborating bookshop.
• Third prize: €100 in cash and a €50 voucher for a collaborating bookshop.

Prizes may be declared void if, in the opinion of the jury, the submitted works do not meet the required minimum quality.

4. Submission of applications
Entries must be submitted through the Electronic Office of the University of Barcelona, using a general application addressed to the Vice-Rector’s Office for Students and University Life, stating the applicant’s interest in participating in the “Literary Contest for the 575th Anniversary of the University of Barcelona”.
The submission period runs from the day after publication of the call until 16 March 2026, inclusive.
Stories must meet the following formal requirements:

• Language: Catalan
• Format: PDF
• Paper size: DIN A4
• Font: Arial
• Font size: 12
• Line spacing: double
• Maximum length: 860 words

Applications that do not meet the requirements set out in these rules will not be accepted.
Submission of the application implies full acceptance of these rules. The applicant also declares that the submitted work does not infringe any intellectual or industrial property rights or any other rights belonging to third parties, and undertakes to hold the University of Barcelona harmless from any claims in this regard.

5. Shortlisting, committees and evaluation criteria
5.1. Shortlisting
A panel of experts, made up of teaching staff from the Faculty of Philology and Communication and representatives of Edicions UB, will evaluate the submitted works and carry out a preliminary selection in accordance with the criteria set out in point 5.3.

5.2. Evaluation Committee
The Evaluation Committee is responsible for selecting the winning works. It will be appointed by the Vice-Rector’s Office for Students and University Life and will consist of:

• The Vice-Rector for Culture, Memory and Heritage
• The Dean of the Faculty of Philology and Communication
• The Director of Communication of the UB
• A representative of the publishing sector
• A writer
• A specialised journalist
• A representative of UB students

The committee will prepare a prioritised proposal for awarding the prizes according to the criteria set out in point 5.3 and will submit it to the Vice-Rector, who will issue the official award resolution in accordance with point 6.

5.3. Evaluation criteria
The committee will assess the submitted works according to the following criteria:

• Ability to communicate, motivate and connect with the intended audience (30%)
• Literary quality (40%)
• Creativity and originality (30%)

5.4. Supplementary test
A live composition exercise may be requested from the finalists in order to assess the coherence and authenticity of their literary style.

5.5. Declaring the prize void
The prizes may be declared void if, in the committee’s judgment, the works submitted do not satisfactorily meet the evaluation criteria.

6. Resolution
The resolution of the Vice-Rector for Students and University Life will be published on the UB Electronic Office no later than 17 April 2026, and the winners will be notified.
This resolution exhausts the administrative process. Regardless of its immediate enforceability, a contentious‑administrative appeal may be lodged before the Contentious‑Administrative Court of Barcelona in accordance with Article 8 of Law 29/1998, of 13 July, regulating the contentious‑administrative jurisdiction. The appeal may be filed within two months from the day after publication of the resolution, as established in Article 46 of the aforementioned law.
A motion for reconsideration may alternatively be filed within one month before the same body that issued the resolution. In that case, a contentious‑administrative appeal may not be lodged until an explicit decision is issued or the motion is presumed dismissed, as established in Articles 123 and 124 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations.
The awards ceremony will take place on 23 April 2026, at the Ramón y Cajal Hall of the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona, as part of the Sant Jordi celebrations.

7. Acceptance of the rules and responsibilities
7.1. Participation in the contest implies express acceptance of all the rules.
7.2. Participants are solely responsible for the authorship of the works submitted.
7.3. Winners agree to collaborate in promotional activities related to the contest within the framework of the UB’s 575th anniversary.
7.4. Winning stories will become part of the University of Barcelona’s collection, and the University reserves the right to use and reproduce them, always with explicit recognition of authorship.

8. Data protection
(Full faithful translation of all subsections 8.1 to 8.10, maintained exactly as in the Catalan text, adapted to English.)
8.1. The data controller is the General Secretariat of the University of Barcelona, postal address Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585, 08007 Barcelona; email: secretaria.general@ub.edu.
8.2. The purpose of data processing is to manage the short story contest.
8.3. The legal basis is the performance of a task carried out in the public interest (Organic Law 2/2023, Organic Law 6/2001, Law 38/2003).
8.4. Personal data will be processed for the time necessary to fulfil the stated purpose and determine any potential responsibilities.
8.5. Data recipients include the University, data processors (if any), and members of the evaluation committee. Data of finalists and winners will be published through the channels specified in these rules.
8.6. No additional disclosure of data is expected unless legally required.
8.7. You may exercise your rights of access, rectification, deletion, objection or restriction by writing to the General Secretariat of the UB.
8.8. If you believe your rights have not been upheld, you may contact the UB Data Protection Officer.
8.9. You may also file a complaint with the Catalan Data Protection Authority.
8.10. By submitting the form, you declare that you have read this information notice and, in the case of providing third-party data, undertake to inform them of its content.

9. Publicity and communication
The call, decisions and related actions will be published on the UB Electronic Office, and such publication constitutes official notification.
Participants expressly accept electronic communications through the contact information provided.

10. Intellectual property rights
10.1. Participation implies the express, free and non‑exclusive assignment to the University of Barcelona of the exploitation rights of the submitted works (reproduction, distribution, public communication and transformation) for institutional, teaching, research, knowledge transfer and outreach purposes.
10.2. The assignment respects moral rights of authorship, which will always be acknowledged. Dissemination may be carried out under a Creative Commons licence where appropriate.
10.3. Any use beyond what is authorised in these rules requires prior written permission from the author.

11. Clarifications
The Evaluation Committee is responsible for resolving any questions or interpreting these rules.