Private company

Autonomous University of Barcelona

Public university in Catalonia, Spain

The Autonomous University of Barcelona (Catalan: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Spanish: Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; IPA: [uniβəɾsiˈtat əwˈtɔnumə ðə βəɾsəˈlonə]; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. As of 2012, the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, life, social and human sciences, spread among 13 faculties/schools.2 From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 18, 2026.

Overview

Jun 6, 1968Founded1

The Autonomous University of Barcelona (Catalan: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Spanish: Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; IPA: [uniβəɾsiˈtat əwˈtɔnumə ðə βəɾsəˈlonə]; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain.2

The story

The Autonomous University of Barcelona was officially created by legislative decree on 6 June 1968. Previously, during the Second Spanish Republic, there had been plans for constituting a second university in Barcelona, but the Civil War and the following years of poverty under the early dictatorship did not allow these plans to become a reality until that year.

On 27 July, a disposition to the decree was added, starting the creation of the Faculty of Literature, Language, Art and the Humanities, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Science, and the Faculty of Economical Sciences. Around ten weeks later, on 6 October, the first course of the Faculty of Literature, Language, Art and the Humanities was inaugurated at Sant Cugat del Vallès Monastery. During the same month, the Faculty of Medicine was created at the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona.

In 1969, an agreement was signed for the acquisition of the land where the university campus is currently located. During that year, the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Economical Sciences started running. During the following three years, several faculties and professional schools were created, and the construction works on the campus land took place. At the end of this period, most existing faculties and schools are settled in the campus.

At the end of the dictatorship in 1976, the university introduced a plan to create a model of a democratic, independent university, described in a document known as Bellaterra Manifesto, which included a declaration of principles. Two years later, after the approval of the Catalan Statute, the University Council agreed to recourse to the Generalitat de Catalunya.

During the period between 1985 and 1992, the university underwent several faculty reforms and the creation of several new faculties. In 1993, the University Ville was inaugurated as a student residence integrated inside the campus complex.

From Wikipedia’s article on Autonomous University of Barcelona, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Leadership

Who has led Autonomous University of Barcelona, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Board members and other officers (1)

Products and brands

Location

Most UAB academic activity takes place on the main campus in Cerdanyola del Vallès. Several centres exist in Manresa, Sabadell, Terrassa, Sant Cugat del Vallès and Barcelona.

The UAB campus is about 20 km (12 mi) away from the centre of Barcelona. It is accessible by air (flights to Barcelona, Girona, or Reus), by train (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat, Renfe), by bus (SARBUS) or by car (AP-7 and C-58 motorways).

UAB-approved research institutes

Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI)

Institute of Employment Studies (IET)

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Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGOP)

Institute of Medieval Studies (IEM)

Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB)

Institute of Educational Sciences (ICE)

Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technologies (ICTA)

Institute of Neuroscience (INc)

Sports Research Institute (IRE)

From Wikipedia’s article on Autonomous University of Barcelona, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

  • Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology
  • Computer Vision Center
  • School of Engineering of UAB
  • UAB Network of Digital Humanities

Also owns

  • Autonomous University of Barcelona - Digital Repository of Documents

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. Jun 6, 1968Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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