More than 300 new doctors and graduates of official master's degree courses at Pompeu Fabra University from the class of 2011, accompanied by their family and friends, took part in the fifth academic graduation ceremony for official master's degrees and doctorates.

The event, which had a strong international flavour (over 50% of those attending were from abroad, from over 30 different countries) took place on the evening of July 1 in the auditorium of the Ciutadella campus, which was filled with around 600 people, including the graduates and their guests.

The programme of the ceremony, which was broadcast live online on the graduation ceremony's website, began with a welcome by the rector Josep Joan Moreso, which was followed by the graduation lecture "Now what?", (PDF document, 16,5 KB), delivered by Miquel Roca i Junyent, a lawyer and adjunct lecturer in UPF's Department of Law.

The performance by the University Choir of Cantares, by Antonio Machado and Joan Manuel Serrat, was followed by the presentation of the commemorative diplomas to the new doctors and graduates, who came onto the stage to receive their award from Josep Joan Moreso, Olga Valverde, vice-rector for Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies, and Nuria Basi, president of the UPF's Board of Trustees.

After the speech by Macarena Ares, a graduate from the master's degree course in Research in Political Science, on behalf of the class of 2011, the rector's closing speech (PDF document, 91.6 KB) was delivered in three languages, and began with a reference to the international nature of the event: "Those of you here are more than three hundred people of thirty-six different nationalities who have found the UPF to be an open and plural university, and an attractive place to develop your talent," said the rector.

Josep Joan Moreso emphasised that the graduates present at the ceremony were an example of the only possible means of overcoming difficulties during the current crisis: the path of knowledge and education.

The chancellor said that "university education undoubtedly provides access and better jobs." The Rector also stressed that research and knowledge generate employment: "The University is not part of the problem of the crisis, quite the contrary: it is part of the solution."

Finally, Josep Joan Moreso pointed to Miquel Roca i Junyent - who shortly before had given the graduation lecture - as an example of the combination of innovation and integrity, two virtues that every society needs to move forward.

The rector concluded his speech by praising the linguistic policy that is maintained at UPF, which enables its students to live and study in Catalan, Spanish and English. The event ended with the performance of the traditional university hymn Gaudeamus igitur by the Choir, and an appetiser provided by the UPF Alumni programme.

This year's official master's degrees and doctorates at UPF

In the 2010-2011 academic year, there were 1,002 students on the 25 official Master's degree courses that UPF coordinates and 1,164 doctorate students on the new programmes it offers. UPF also participated in fifteen other master's degrees coordinated by other universities in Cata lonia and beyond.

89 doctoral theses were read at UPF between the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year and 20 June, 64% of which were in English, and more than 100 are scheduled for reading at the end of the year. Seven of the new doctorate programmeshave received quality mentions awarded by the agency for quality assessment (ANECA) and the decision regarding new mentions of excellence for doctorates is pending.