| Branch | Health Sciences | |
| Duration | Four academic years | |
| ECTS credits | 240 Basic subjects: 74; compulsory subjects: 130; optional subjects: 16; internships: 14, end-of-degree project/dissertation: 6 |
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| Languages | Catalan, Spanish and English (depending on the subject) | |
| Timetables | The large volume of practical teachings involved in the degree means that devotion to studies is full time. The teaching activity takes place both in the morning and in the afternoon, and students are expected to dedicate 45 hours per week (including face-to-face activities, virtual activities and individual studying) during the term. | |
| Places | 60 | |
| Price of first year | € 1,560 | |
| Organised by | Faculty of Health and Life Sciences |
Presentation
Teaching goals
To train biologists qualified to work in the professional sphere anticipated in the degree qualification, in the biomedicine and health field, or to join postgraduate courses under the best possible conditions. The ultimate objective is to train professionals with specific and general skills in order to successfully pursue professional careers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry and in clinical and environmental analysis laboratories and who can also lead the way in the biomedical research of the future, in both the academic world and in industry.
Description of the course
The Human Biology course is taken in the biohealth field, with close links to the UPF and UAB Medicine courses, and uses the most dynamic, the latest and the most successful educational strategies and methodologies, which include the following:
a) The importance given to learning of practical skills, and not only theoretical knowledge.
b) The increase in active learning, in which the student is more heavily involved, to the detriment of purely passive learning. Part of the course is based on the problem-based learning method.
c) The promotion of lifelong work and study habits, to which the time necessary is allocated during the teaching planning.
d) Tutorial-based teaching in which each student has a mentor lecturer for his/her entire degree, in order to foster his/her academic progress.
e) The use of new technologies, especially computing, in educational processes, with regular use of virtual platforms in all subjects on the curriculum.
f) An academic performance assessment system that is unified, reliable, robust and objective, in which students have access to the most information possible so that they can monitor the result of their assessment.
g) Friendly relations between all the members of the university community - students, lecturers and administration and services staff - that promote well-being.
The degree in Human Biology follows on from the old Biology degree course, and is based on a pilot project for adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). UPF Biology courses have been awarded the Jaume Vicens Vives prize for university teaching quality by the Generalitat (Government of Catalonia) on two occasions - in 2002 and 2005 - and received a national prize from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science for teaching innovation in 2006.
Skills acquired by graduates in Human Biology
The future graduates will acquire both specific skills related to their professional work as biologists and the general skills necessary to undertake any professional work in the future.
The specific skills are grouped into nine knowledge areas: basic sciences, applied sciences, molecular and cellular bases, biology of the human organism, human health, biology of organisms and systems, humanities, basic general procedures, and attitudes, ethical aspects and professional responsibilities.
The Human Biology course fosters all the general skills recommended by the European educational authorities, but graduates must prove their skills in five of them which are very important: public speaking, writing correctly, searching for information, command of new technologies and teamwork.
Career prospects
The design of the degree in Human Biology, like that of the old Biology degree course, was based on social needs, and is directly related to students' future professional placement. The practice acquired during the final year of the degree, in which students do real professional work for an entire term, has a positive effect on their immediate work placement or their prospects for postgraduate training.
The degree in Human Biology is especially designed to enable graduates to work professionally in three major fields: the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry, clinical laboratories - in which the public health system plays a key role - and biomedical research.
Teaching load
240 ECTS credits
- Basic subjects: 74 credits
- Compulsory subjects: 130 credits
- Optional subjects: 16 credits
- External internship: 14 credits
- End-of-degree dissertation: 6 credits
Languages
Catalan, Spanish and English
Timetables
Due to the high volume of practical teaching timetabled in the degree course, these studies are full-time. Teaching will take place in both the morning and afternoon, and during term time, students will have 45 hours of study per week (including face-to-face activity, distance activity and personal studies).
Ordinary first year registration fee
Approximately € 1,300
Centre responsible for the degree
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Doctor Aiguader, 80. 08003 Barcelona
Telephone: 93 542 28 00
Fax: 93 542 28 02
E-mail: deganat.biologia@upf.edu