The dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Elisenda Paluzie, stated that the new platform will show “at an international level the research carried out at the Faculty” and “it will actively contribute to the goal of consolidating Barcelonaʼs status as a European capital of economic research and a pole of attraction for international students and researchers”. On the other hand, the Minister of Economy and Knowledge of the Catalan Government, Andreu Mas-Colell, congratulated the UB on the initiative and on its high-quality research and welcomed this “new step towards the development of a cluster of economic activity in Barcelona and towards its internationalisation”.
The event included addresses by professor of Economics at the University of Oxford Anthony Venables, who gave a talk on cities and their capacity to become an economic engine. Venables, expert in urban economics and former advisor to the British Government and the World Bank, reviewed the economic advantages of cities: high productivity, lower costs, more efficient labour market, higher wages, pole of attraction for knowledge economy, source of new ideas, etc. At the same time, however, he warned of the challenges big cities face, as decisions made now will have repercussions for decades in their economy.
UB Economics, which has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of Obra Social la Caixa, aims to strengthen research, become a centre of excellence in its field and attract foreign researchers and students. In this sense, UB Economics gives special priority to its program in Economics for graduates from around the world, the Graduate Program, which is entirely taught in English and which is divided into a masterʼs degree and a doctoral program. The first one, the masterʼs degree in Economics, is designed to provide students with the tools they will need to conduct research and gives access to the doctoral program in Economics, which has been distinguished with a quality award granted by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.
The new platform, which has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of Obra Social la Caixa, also wants to actively contribute to the goal of consolidating Barcelonaʼs status as a European capital of economic research and a pole of attraction for international students and researchers.
Strengthening research
UB Economics aims to bring together all research and academic activities carried out at the
Faculty of Economics and Business of the UB, which was not visible enough so far due to the numerous administrative structures into which it is divided. Hence, UB Economics comprises six
departments of Economics (Economic Policy and World Economic Structure; Economic Theory; Econometrics, Statistics and Spanish Economy, among others) and eight research groups (such as Governments and Markets, Quantitative Regional Analysis, Barcelona Economics Institute, Welfare Economics: Theory and Applications, or Centre of Economic Analysis and Social Policies). Therefore, UB Economics intends to join forces to maintain high levels of excellence in research, despite the crisis and budget adjustments.
UB Economics will also promote high-quality research by encouraging its members to publish their research in leading international journals and by providing technical support to disseminate their results.
Increase its internationalisation
The second goal of UB Economics is to create an international environment through which the Faculty can excel, attracting new foreign researchers and students who are interested in becoming part of a benchmark university in research in economics. Hence, on the one hand, UB Economics will work to attract foreign outstanding researchers who are renowned for their excellence and who can contribute to improve the Facultyʼs research and academic standards. Most of the UB Economics resources will be allocated to these contracts. During the academic year 2011-2012, the Faculty has employed for the first time seven junior doctors from the Economics Job Market, a highly-competitive international labour market, to attract talented young researchers who have studied at prestigious universities abroad.
On the other hand, UB Economics offers a masterʼs degree in Economics, a two-year course, which aims to train highly qualified professionals to an international standard. In addition, students who successfully complete the masterʼs degree can access the doctoral program in Economics, which has been distinguished with a quality award granted by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. These two programs are entirely taught in English.
Excellence in research
The Faculty of Economics and Business of the UB is the largest faculty of economics in Catalonia and one of the faculties that make up the Barcelona Knowledge Campus, the most active campus of international excellence in Spain. The Faculty is home to 10,000 students and 400 full time lecturers and researchers who publish about 400 scientific articles a year (over 80 in the most prestigious journals) and 380 books or book chapters. The Facultyʼs research activity has kept an upward trend over the last ten years.
The Faculty is among the top 100 universities in the world according to the 2011
QS World University Rankings. The UB is the highest placed Spanish university in this ranking. In addition, the Faculty of Economics and Business ranks third in research in economics in Spain, according to the I-UGR ranking, which is a ranking of public and private universities based on the number of publications in international journals with high impact factor and visibility.
Regarding research publication in leading international journals in econometrics, economics and finance, the UB ranks 66th in Europe (the fifth highest-ranked university in Spain), according to the
annual ranking published by Tilburg University. The UB is the first university in scientific output in Spain.
