Since its inception in 1995 as a pioneering technological university with a highly innovative educational model, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has become one of the world's leading online universities, currently serving over 87,000 students. The UOC’s core mission is to act as the university of the Knowledge Society by promoting innovative teaching, personalized lifelong learning, technological leadership, and cutting-edge research into the information society and e-learning.
The university’s highly innovative Research and Innovation (R&I) activity is carried out by more than 500 researchers, many of whom belong to one of the 50+ research groups across its seven faculties and Doctoral School. This research is structured around five key missions: the education of the future; digital transformation and sustainability; culture for a critical society; planetary health and well-being; and ethical and human technology. These missions are spearheaded by five specialized research centers:
UOC-DIGIT: Digital Transformation and Governance Research Centre.
UOC-FuturEd: Research Centre on the Futures of Education in the Digital Age.
UOC-TRÀNSIC: Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Social and Cultural Transformations.
UOC-eHealth: Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Human and Planetary Health.
UOC-TECH: Research Centre on Ethical Technologies and Connectivity for Humanity.
The Interdisciplinary R&I Hub, located in Barcelona’s 22@ innovation district, serves as the cornerstone of the university's ecosystem. It fosters high-quality, frontier interdisciplinary research to provide solutions in the UOC’s three main areas of specialization: e-learning, digital health, and the network society. Supported by the UOC’s Research and Innovation Department, this ecosystem maintains strong ties with key stakeholders in Barcelona (corporations and research centers) while attracting international talent and securing funding from the Spanish Government, the European Commission, and other global institutions.
The Hub also hosts the UOC Labs, a collaborative environment featuring:
Neuro Lab: Focused on human cognitive processes and rehabilitation.
XR Lab: Specializing in immersive technologies for health and education.
Media Lab: Dedicated to knowledge transfer and experimentation in digital communication and design.
Wireless Networks Lab: Supporting research in cyber-physical systems.
Tech Lab and Data Science Lab: Providing specialized hardware, software, and analytical support for researchers.
Becoming a "knowledge hub" involves opening the university to society. The UOC’s Open Knowledge Policy establishes guidelines for the open sharing and transfer of knowledge generated through its research, teaching, and innovation across various disciplines.
With internationalization at its core, the UOC continuously boosts its global profile. In the last five years, the university has participated in over 250 R&I projects and approximately 50 European initiatives, including:
9 projects under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (MSCA, ICT, and Science in Society).
17 projects under the Lifelong Learning Programme.
35 Erasmus+ projects (leading 5).
4 COST Actions (leading 1).
6 Horizon 2020 projects as lead partner and 1 Horizon Europe project as lead, plus 18 additional participations as a partner, including MSCA and an ERC Starting Grant.
The UOC maintains over 150 international agreements for joint research and mobility and has signed more than 1,000 agreements to promote knowledge transfer. It is an active member of over 35 international networks, such as the European University Association (EUA), the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), and the IMS Global Learning Consortium.
In 2018, the European Commission awarded the UOC the "HR Excellence in Research" (HRS4R) seal, recognizing its capacity to attract talent and foster research careers in Europe. Furthermore, the UOC has implemented Gender Equality Plans for over a decade, integrating a gender perspective across all institutional levels to combat inequality.
