Between 17 and 19 September, the Ciutadella campus hosted the UPF Academic Graduation Ceremony, which involved some 3,000 graduates of the classes of 2020 and 2021, belonging to 24 bachelor’s and double bachelor’s degrees. They were spread across eight consecutive sessions, the first of which took place on Friday 17 September at 5 pm, and the last, on Sunday 19 September at 1 pm.

After the pandemic prevented the event from taking place last year in its habitual format, having to be organized online, the improved indicators and high rates of vaccination made it possible this year to recover the ceremony’s face-to-face format, in full compliance with the regulations established by the health authorities. The enabled physical presence was combined with the possibility of following the event live via the UPF website, and on social networks, with the hashtag #GraduacióUPF20i21.

The ceremony involved the first cohorts of Mathematical Engineering in Data Science and of the double bachelor’s degree in Translation and Applied Languages

The academic graduation ceremony, which involved the first cohorts of Mathematical Engineering in Data Science and of the double bachelor’s degree in Translation and Applied Languages, took place in the courtyard of the Roger de Llúria building. People accompanying the graduates were able to follow the event live on a screen from various classrooms in the Jaume I building.

The programme of each of the eight sessions, hosted by journalists, lecturers from the Department of Communication and UPF alumni, was as follows: a welcome; the screening of the 2021 graduation commemorative video; the graduation lecture, given by a UPF alumni; a musical interlude rendered by the UPF Choir; the delivery of commemorative diplomas; speeches by graduates; the performance of Gaudeamus igitur, by the UPF Choir, and a glass of cava in the courtyard of the Jaume I building.

Eight graduation lectures, one for each session, given by UPF alumni

The graduation lectures were given by UPF alumni, graduates of one of the degrees pertaining to each specific block. The alumni, who come from diverse years (from 1996 to 2019) and the lectures they gave, are as follows:

17 September, session 1, at 5 pm.: under the title “Chapters”, the lecture was given by Roser Sánchez-Todo, who took the bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (class of 2019). After graduating from UPF, she also studied the master’s degree in Brain and Cognition (2020) at the University. She is currently a manager at one of the research departments at Neuroelectrics, a private company making medical devices to treat patients through transcranial electrical stimulation. Her group uses hybrid brain modelling to conduct research into how such stimulation can help patients with epilepsy and Alzheimer’s.

17 September, session 2, at 8 pm.: the lecture "Now it's time to get dirty" was given by Júlia Cot, of the bachelor’s degree in Audiovisual Communication (class of 2006), a television screenwriter who has worked for more than ten years in the programme Polònia.

18 September, session 3, at 10 am.: under the title “Open letter to novice translators and linguists”, the lecture was given by Scheherezade Surià, from the bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting (class of 2004). She completed a postgraduate degree in Literary Translation (UPF-IDEC) and a master’s degree in Audiovisual Translation (UAB). A literary translator, she works regularly with agencies, publishers and dubbing studios. She has an impressive track record in specialized literary and audiovisual translation from English into Spanish and Catalan.

18 September, session 4, at 1 pm.: the lecture “A debt with the gods” was delivered by Pablo Simón, of the bachelor’s degree in Political and Administration Sciences (class of 2007). A PhD in Political and Social Sciences (UPF) and a postdoctoral researcher at the Free University of Brussels (2013-2015), he is currently a professor of Political Science at Carlos III University of Madrid.

18 September, session 5, at 5 pm.: the lecture “Individual and collective responsibility” was delivered by Miriam Hatibi, of the bachelor’s degree in International Business Economics (class of 2015). A communication consultant, activist and writer, she collaborates with the media and is campaigning for the presence of racialized people in spaces of visibility.

18 September, session 6, at 8 pm.: under the title “Five reflections for a graduation”, the lecture was given by Núria Mas, from the bachelor’s degree in Economic and Business Sciences (class of 1996). A full professor and director of the Department of Economics at IESE and holder of the Jaime Grego Chair in Healthcare Management, since 2017 she has been a member of the board of the Bank of Spain. She earned a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and before joining IESE as a professor, worked as an associate at Lehman Brothers.

19 September, session 7, at 10 am.: the lecture “A whole lifetime” was delivered by Maria Teixidor, of the bachelor’s degree in Law (class of 1999). She is a lawyer, chair of the Women and Enterprise Commission of PIMEC and former director of FC Barcelona.

19 September 19, session 8, 1 pm.: “Let the past not overshadow us: reflections after 7 years as a graduate” is the title of the lecture that was delivered by Enric Cano, of the bachelor’s degree in Criminology (class of 2014). He is currently a researcher at the Criminology and Criminal Justice System Research Group at UPF, where he is doing his doctoral thesis on the representation of the penitentiary system and its participants in film and its influence on the creation of social assumptions. He studied a master’s degree in Global Criminology (Utrecht University) and complemented his academic training by graduating in Film-making (2018-2019) at a film school in Barcelona, specializing in film noir.