1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

When it came time to decide which degree I wanted to do, I was very sure that it had to be related to mathematics, as I've always loved maths since I was little, and I also wanted it to involve more practical subjects. So because of that I went around gathering information about different engineering degrees; but it was after meeting a family member who was working in the sector that I eventually went for the world of telecommunications.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

The most important thing that I will take away from my experience at UPF are all the classmates that I've got to know during these years and who are now friends; and also lecturers, who've always been very approachable and friendly when we've needed them, and to whom I'm very grateful for the opportunity that they've given us to learn from their knowledge and experience.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

After doing a work placement for some of last year, last September I started my work experience in software development, and I'm combining it with a Master's in Telecommunications Engineering (MET), as I don't want to miss the chance to continue learning more about the world of telecommunications.

As for the future, honestly I don't have any fixed plans. What I am sure about is that I will stay connected to this sector, so that I can keep growing, keep developing, always seeking new personal and professional challenges which fulfil me and keep me motivated.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

I'm proud to have got this award. I think winning this prize represents a recompense for all the effort that I have put into this degree over the last four years, and now it motivates me to carry on and overcome new challenges in the future.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

In 2018, when I was considering which degree to do, I was really keen on the audiovisual world as well as maths and the more technical elements of programming and hardware. That's why when I saw the course syllabus I was sure right away that it was the perfect choice for me. I was so convinced that I didn't even need to go to the Open Day, which I didn't know had been held a few weeks earlier.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

If I had to choose one of the most important things I've learnt, it would be being able to combine a great number of academic subjects, I mean, we haven't only focused on the audiovisual world, I've been able to learn about subjects more to do with telecommunications or programming video games as well, which has really enriched my knowledge

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Thanks to everything I've learnt at UPF I found work as soon as the summer was over, starting as a videogame programmer, which is a world I love. As for the future, who knows what will happen; perhaps some balance between being able to eat and world domination. To be able to direct a videogame where I could bring to life all my creative ambitions with the knowledge I've acquired through my studies and what I've been working in, that’s the most immediate aim; but who knows what new challenges might arise which change my plans. What I do know for sure is that I'll always have this ambition to grow personally and professionally.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

For me it gives me pride and it reminds me that if I make enough effort I can achieve anything that I set out to do

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

When I was doing my batxillerat (upper secondary education) and I had to choose subjects according to my interests, I always found myself in a dilemma about which specialism to choose. On the one hand, maths, physics and technology seemed a safe option for me, however, I was also really interested in subjects related to health sciences. I couldn't make up my mind and I always ended up choosing a combination of the two. What seemed to me at the time to be uncertainty about my future, became precisely the path I took. When I discovered this degree I realised that I didn't have to leave anything behind, that I could combine the two fields in one degree, Biomedical Engineering.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

For me, studying at UPF has meant learning from all the lived experiences; having the privilege of receiving an excellent academic training; living in a great city; learning another language; as well as having got to know some great people and made great friendships, which will last forever.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Right now I'm at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany, doing a 2-year Masters in the field of Biomedical Computing, at the same time as working part-time at EM3Works, a spin off project from the University of Vigo. My main interests are the application of artificial intelligence and deep learning in image and signal processing, applied to the field of biomedicine. I'm fascinated by how algorithms and models can be built which end up helping medical professionals diagnose or cure diseases and being able to contribute to improving people's well-being in this way.

At the moment I'm still not sure what I want to do in the short-term. I'm debating whether to carry on with my education with a doctorate or to start working as an engineer. What I am sure about is that in the future I'd like to come back to Spain, in particular to Barcelona.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

I feel very proud to have received this prize from UPF. This prize represents the end of a very special chapter in my life, a recognition that compensates for the sacrifice and effort I put in over the last four years, which were full of satisfaction even though there were some difficult moments. I have to say thanks to my family and friends for their unconditional support and patience. And to the lecturers and tutors at UPF, I dedicate this award.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

At school we did some basic programming subjects. It really struck me this fact of simply being able to create something just by writing stories (algorithms) as if it was a novel. I took advantage of the fact that a member of my family was a computer engineer to start me off in the world of programming, which is how I discovered that this was what I really wanted to study.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

Perseverance and being able to keep going, despite the difficulties. By breaking up more complex problems into smaller, simpler ones, you can solve them in an orderly way. What's more, it has been very gratifying to share these years of learning with classmates and lecturers with so many different cultural and professional backgrounds.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

At the moment I'm working with the GTI Research Group at UPF. As for the future, there isn't any particular direction I want to take. Basically I want to carry on learning as much about the projects I'm participating in as the people who are involved in them.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It's very rewarding to feel that your effort and perseverance over the last four years has been recognised, and it motivates me to keep on improving myself.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I found choosing a degree really difficult. I think that, as happens with a lot of students, I chose a degree only having a very rough idea of what these studies consisted of, based on the descriptions and the experiences that other people had published on the Internet and on the fantasies that I had about what I might study on each course. At that moment I was curious about different fields, like maths, computing or languages; but I didn't like any one of them more than the others, to the extent that I could take the plunge and say that that would be my vocation. I thought that by choosing one of those disciplines it would be impossible to study the others, as if they were completely isolated, and this dilemma made me really anxious. That was when I came across data science, which is a field defined everywhere as being interdisciplinary, a nexus between many other fields and used in a multitude of sectors such as medicine, social sciences or telecommunications. So then I chose data science because I felt that its interdisciplinary focus could resolve my dilemma, or at least, postpone it.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

A while ago, a classmate surprised me by saying that the most important thing that he had learnt at university was learning to learn. Apart from the contents of each subject that I've learnt, this cross-disciplinary skill which my classmate mentioned seems to me to be the most valuable. Throughout the whole degree, especially during the Final Year Project, you can improve how you acquire knowledge more independently, and you learn what techniques are the most useful for fully grasping new ideas.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

At the moment I'm doing a Master's in Telecommunications at UPC, focusing on artificial intelligence, which is turning out to be really productive. I'm combining this with a job as a data analyst for a consultancy firm here in Barcelona, where I'm very happy, because of what I'm learning and because of the colleagues I've met. Rightly or wrongly, I don't tend to make long-term plans. I know that while I'm doing the master's I want to carry on as I am at the moment, and that whatever comes after that, I'll have time to think about what to do.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

I'm very grateful to UPF for this prize, which represents a recognition of all the effort I've put in over the last four years. This effort being recognised isn't only mine, but also that of the teaching staff and my classmates, who have helped me to understand many things, and my family.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

In 2016, when I had to choose which degree to do, I'd already completed the social sciences and humanities Batxillerat (upper secondary education), and I was sure that I wanted to work in the field of social sciences because, unlike other natural sciences and maths, the object of study (society and everything related to it) was difficult to determine using traditional tools and needed a different approach. What I still didn't know for sure was which social science to choose. However, during that year several events became increasingly relevant: in Spain there was a general election and some new political parties appeared on the political stage, as well as the later difficulties of forming a government and the leadership crisis of the PSOE. To all that was added the naming of a new president of the Generalitat de Catalunya and several judicial corruption cases. In addition, in the international context, the Brexit referendum took place.

This context of political uncertainty, which has prevailed for a certain time, stimulated my interest in politics and made me want to understand it, as I realised how relevant it is to our lives. That's why I decided to do a degree which would help me achieve this aim. I found out about the Political and Administration Science degree offered by Pompeu Fabra University, which allows you to study politics in depth from a multidisciplinary perspective: it included political and administration science methodologies but also sociological ones, as well as historical and economical approaches and even investigation and research subjects. This comprehensive and exhaustive feature of the degree made me finally decide to study here, and right now I can assure you that I made the right choice.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

It's difficult to choose just one thing that I've learnt in four years of studying. During this time I've had the chance to learn a lot, both theoretical and practical things. As I said, in this degree we take in elements from many social science disciplines and apply them to studying political and public administration science, and I think that this ability to see things from different perspectives is really valuable. But I also think that in the years I've been doing this degree, the practical skills that I've acquired are very important, especially those related to research, social investigation and data analysis, which have allowed me to apply my theoretical knowledge to real situations and to devote myself professionally to the field of public administration consulting. These skills are important because it means that all the effort that's gone in has been worth it, what I've studied is really useful and has a real impact. And all this has only been possible thanks to the teaching staff and to my classmates who I've had the fortune of meeting and sharing these years with together, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for everything they've done.

However, there is one thing that I particularly appreciate, and that is everything that I have learnt, not so much consciously, as with theoretical knowledge and practical tools, but rather what I've achieved in a more indirect and subconscious way, the things that are learnt over time. During this degree I've learnt to collaborate with other people in order to move forward, to overcome my limitations, to push myself to achieve my goals, and to develop the ability to adapt and be resilient, which is something I value a lot. My experience at UPF has been characterised by successes and triumphs, but also by disappointments, mistakes and uncomfortable moments. It's not easy to explain, they are experiences which you can only understand if you've experienced them. For all these reasons, this combination of positive and negative experiences has made me who I am now, I've learnt and grown because of them, and I don't regret anything. If I could turn back the clock and you were to ask me if I would choose the path I've taken until now, I wouldn't hesitate to say yes. And I would do it all again, step by step.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Right now I've just finished my second degree at UPF, a Bachelor's in Law, and I'm working as a Junior Consultant in Public Administrations in the multinational company Indra. Consultancy is a professional field which I wanted to work in because I think it allows me to put everything I've learnt at university into practice, and I'm happy with how things are progressing. I've only been working for a few months, but I hope to gain as much experience as possible and grow as a professional.

As for my plans for the future, in the short term I'm hoping to switch off from studying for a while. I think that having graduated with two degrees means I've completed this stage, and now I want to focus on my professional development. Nevertheless, in a few years' time, I would like to do a master's or some complementary training which might help me to specialise and that I could apply to my professional field in Public Administration, probably something related to public management or administrative law. Having completed this stage doesn't mean that I might not revisit education and take up further studies in the future.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

Honestly, I wasn't expecting to receive this award. When I received an email at the end of October last year, saying that a provisional list of candidates had been published for the Special Graduation Prize 2021-2022, I hadn't even heard of this prize, so it was a total surprise, and even more so when I realised I was on the list of candidates.

Despite it being such a wonderful surprise, I consider this prize as a great personal and collective honour. Personally, for my distinction as a student, and collectively for being part of the UPF community and the prestige that this distinction brings. Certainly, being aware that I belong to a minority of people who have the best academic record in the whole university is a privilege. This prize gives me an honorary distinction which is visible in my record, of course, but what is important is what is not visible. They are all the things that are behind this, the effort, the people and the development that I've had as a person and student over the years. This prize symbolises all that, and I can't imagine a better way to conclude my time at university.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I decided to study philosophy, politics and economics because I was interested in social sciences in the widest sense and I thought that this degree was perfect for that reason.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

The most important thing for me has been sharing opinions and concerns with a very diverse group of classmates, diverse in terms of origins - as many come from outside Catalonia - as well as in terms of interests - because of the nature of the course. Without this environment, the experience wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Right now I'm doing a Master's in Economics at the Barcelona School of Economics in the same Ciutadella Campus, where I'd like to focus on quantitative methods. In the future I'd like to work in public politics, although I still have to decide in what way.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

For me, winning this prize is a recognition of the effort I put in, but above all a recognition of the luck I've had being able to count on the great classmates who I've worked with and from whom I've learnt a lot. It is also a prize I share with my family of course, and with the degree teachers who have taught their subjects with such passion.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I was very uncertain about which degree to choose. I liked lots of different disciplines, I wasn't sure which one I cared about most, and I felt a bit lost. In the end I thought that a communication degree like Advertising and Public Relations was very versatile and would open a lot of doors for me in many different sectors, because wherever you are, there is always a need for communication. There are always two parties as a minimum, who have to communicate in order to achieve their objectives. And this versatility made me choose advertising in the end.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

What I appreciate most from my years as a student at the Pompeu is the personal growth I've experienced. I've had the chance to get out of my comfort zone, to try different things and to meet new people. These experiences have allowed me to know myself better and feel a bit less lost like I did when I finished batxillerat (upper secondary education). I especially value the analytical skills which this degree has given me. Now I don't look at advertising, audiovisual productions, images, etc. Likewise, I always ask myself, the 'why' of what I'm doing, something that adds a lot of value to the final result.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Right now I'm a consultant for the strategic team of a branding consultancy. The strategic planning aspect is the thing that struck me most about the whole degree and it was the first thing that I wanted to try. I like it, I learn a lot and I set myself a lot of challenges, but as for the future, which I'm not very sure about, I haven't ruled out exploring other areas, especially the world of communication in fashion, cosmetics or nutrition (which was the subject of my Final Year Project), or to keep on studying.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

Winning this prize makes me very happy, as it's a recognition of the effort of the last four years. But even more than that, it's a source of great personal satisfaction because it's a very high distinction if I think about my classmates who are all so talented and the very high quality of all the projects that I've seen throughout my degree.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

Even though since I was very little I'd always been really keen on cinema and photography, I did the scientific batxillerat (upper secondary education) because I didn't want to rule out the possibility of doing a maths or physics degree, as these had always been my favourite subjects. I ended up going for audiovisual communication because it was what my heart was telling me, I let myself be guided purely by intuition. I'm really happy with this decision.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

The structure of the degree in audiovisual communication is designed so that the student takes away with them a range of basic theoretical and practical knowledge about the audiovisual world. I started the degree thinking that in the future I'd like to work in audiovisual creation, but during my first class of History of Cinema I, and because of the now legendary intervention of Núria Bou analysing Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946), I discovered a field that I hadn't thought about until then and which is, lately, what I want to work in: academic research. However, undoubtedly the most valuable thing that I take away from these four years at the Pompeu are the friendships, the talent of these people and their motivation which has made me grow both personally and professionally.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

At the moment I'm doing a Master's in Contemporary Film and Audiovisual Studies, where I'm specialising in comparative cinema and interpretation of visual arts applied to cinema from the Arab world. Apart from that, I've started to study Arabic at the Barcelona Drassanes Official Language School and I'm continuing to study Chinese with a private teacher. I've been given a scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Professional Training with a collaboration grant, which I'm using to develop research about desert imagery in the work of Nacer Khemir. As for my plans for the future, I'd like to go abroad to get to know and learn new ways to observe and think about visual arts. That's why I'm thinking of doing an International Masters in Cinema Studies (IMACS) next year. After that, the next logical thing would be to start a doctorate, but fortunately that's still quite far off.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It's a recognition of the effort, sacrifice and constant work over the last four years studying at UPF, but above all it's an incentive for the future. Although I'm enormously grateful for this prize, I'm fully aware that this would not have been possible without the support of the teachers, classmates, my family and friends.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I've always been a very indecisive person, but one thing that I've been very sure about in my life was that I wanted to study journalism. In fact, my interest in journalism was awoken in the final years of primary school, and from that moment I knew where I was headed. I've always really liked writing, explaining things and finding out things and I suppose that's where my love of journalism and the media comes from.

I also think that one of the role models that guided me when I was little (and in whom I saw myself reflected) was Joaquim Maria Puyal. His Barça match commentaries made me fall in love with sports journalism and were a key factor in me choosing this path.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

At UPF I've learnt the fundamentals of being a journalist. It's not just about doing journalistic work, but also feeling yourself to be a journalist. In particular, I think that all the months at the Integrated Workshop became my first deep immersion in the day-to-day experience of writing and it helped me to understand what being a journalist means in all manner of ways.

I also think that the fact of having had to do a particular pathway complemented our training. I chose Political Sciences. What's more, in the third year of Journalism I decided to take up the subject of Politics with another degree and right now I'm finishing the last few subjects with the aim of graduating this year. I think that the combination of these two degrees is very enriching and gives me the freedom to go beyond the sphere of journalism.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Right now I'm living in Madrid. I was given a scholarship for one year within the Communication Management team of the House of Representatives and I moved to Madrid at the beginning of January. It's a new life for me and it really is an adventure, combining my two main passions: journalism and politics (especially parliamentary politics):

Before that, I worked for two and a half years at Verificat doing political fact-checking. I started there in June 2020 on a work placement, having just finished my degree (it was my first professional experience in a writing department) and I signed my first contract with them after a few months. I learnt a lot through this experience, from writing about issues that I never would have imagined and growing both personally and professionally. I was lucky to be part of this project for that time and to have contributed to making Verificat stronger as a tool, which I think is essential for enriching political debate in our country.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It's an honorary recognition that gives me great satisfaction and which, in some way, validates my time at the Poblenou campus. Nevertheless, this prize wouldn't mean anything without the experience of these four years at the university together with the friendships which we made when we went to class and which we still keep up. These friendships are, in the end, the most valuable thing which I take with me from university.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

It's true that I've always been very sure about what I wanted to study, in the beginning I was interested in noir fiction and true crime like many others, which was very popular a few years ago. In my case, I found out a lot of information about what this course offered and this made me even more interested than I had been. Knowing that I could learn about the penal system as well as the more psychological and social aspects of crime was what finally convinced me that this was what I wanted to do. And obviously I don't regret it.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

For me, one of the most important things about studying Criminology and PPP at the Pompeu has been the interdisciplinary nature of this course. I think it's good because doing different subjects helps the students to understand that there is a whole world of possibilities for criminologists, and that profiles like ours, those of us who are interested in improving our environment and with our concern for reducing both crime and the social situations which give rise to it, make us indispensable in many situations. There is still a long way to go, but we're getting there.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

At the moment I'm working as a fraud analyst, a field that never occurred to me at first, but in fact I like it and I'm very happy. As for next year I'd like to do a master's, my first choices at the moment are either mediation or cybercrime. I know that these fields don't have much to do with one another, but I've enjoyed all aspects of the degree and so there are no bad options, I'm still deciding which direction to take. It's one of the good things about the degree that I mentioned; it keeps your options open. What I am sure about is that I want to keep studying.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

I imagine that everyone has a similar feeling, but really it's a recognition of the effort you've put in over the last four years. If I've pushed myself to the limit it's because I wanted to learn as much as possible, and I'm very satisfied to have received this award. Certainly, it's not all about qualifications, but I think that this reflects my interest in the discipline and the fact that I want to become a good professional. Furthermore, it will always be a source of pride to say that I was top of my year, and I think that this will make it easier for me to get into and establish myself in the professional world, as normally this is not at all easy for new graduates.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I decided to do it well beforehand, when I was about fourteen or fifteen. Unlike other later decisions, it wasn't difficult for me to decide and neither did I think about it a great deal.

Since I was little I've always been attracted to knowledge in general and that's why I think I would also have been happy working in disciplines as diverse as maths or classical language studies. But I've always been especially interested in social and humanistic knowledge and the degree I ended up choosing covered these areas. When I started, I soon saw that law and economics were a little different to how I'd imagined them, but I liked them all the same. It's true that at the beginning my aim was to do law and business management and administration, but the subjects related to economics, especially econometrics, convinced me to choose economics in the end.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

Most importantly, I've acquired a lot of knowledge at university, which will stay with me all my life. Secondly, the University has made me see that it's satisfying and worthwhile to have a disciplined and coherent system of working. The direct contact with the theoretical study of the subjects, the wonderful lecturers that I've had and their rigorous academic method, which unfortunately seems to appeal to fewer and fewer people, have made me see that the key to good results is simply based on work well done, work done with dedication and humility.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm studying for the entrance exams for the State Lawyers Corp. It's an amazing profession and it would make me very happy to serve the public interest in an area that is one of my passions, law.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It is a great satisfaction and personal triumph, but also a triumph for all the people who have contributed to my education throughout my life, starting with my parents. In the first few months of the degree, when I was getting to know my classmates and I saw the high level of education that they had, I would never have imagined it possible that I would end up top of my year. Achieving this on finishing the course has been the perfect end to a well-rounded university experience, which has allowed me to get to know some exceptional people and to have some unexpected experiences, which I will always be grateful for.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I chose this course because it takes in several different areas and the subjects are very varied: economics, labour law and psychology, for example. In addition, it's a degree that has a lot of professional outcomes in different sectors such as talent teams, recruitment, people management, HR consulting, employment advice, in public administration or health and safety at work. What's more, UPF has many bilateral agreements with international universities so you can do a semester or an academic year abroad and I think that this is a very enriching experience on a personal level and it is very positively regarded by companies when you're looking for a job.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

Apart from the theoretical materials related to the degree, at UPF I've learnt to work in a team as in many seminars you do group work and the members are chosen at random so you have to learn to get along with everyone. I've also learnt to organise my time and to be consistent: skills which I consider to be essential to get good marks at the Pompeu given how demanding some of the subject evaluations are.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

After graduating from UPF I moved to Madrid to work in human resources and my plans for the future are to continue working in this sector and in the next few years to do a master's.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

The fact that the panel has decided to award me this prize is hugely satisfying and a source of great personal pride for the hard work and dedication I've put in over the four years of this course. So I think this prize means a recognition of the effort of all the students who've received it. So I'd like to congratulate all the other students from different courses who have also been awarded the prize!

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

The truth is my choice was totally unexpected. I did the scientific batxillerat (upper secondary education) but none of the scientific degrees quite appealed to me. The only degree that really interested me was Law. Apart from that, I had always been curious about the penal system and crime in general (the reasons why people offend, the mechanisms to prevent it as well as the mechanisms to avoid repeat offences). I was finding out information and I discovered that UPF offered this double degree in Criminology and Public Prevention Policies and Law. I followed my intuition and I decided to go for this degree because I could do both aspects. I was aware that it might turn out well or not, but, the truth is I'm very happy with my decision.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

The five years of this degree have given me many things both on an academic and a personal level. Apart from having learnt the fundamentals of law and criminology, I think the most important thing that I've achieved in my time at UPF is having developed and consolidated skills such as critical thinking, research and writing methods, public speaking, being able to synthesise ideas and, in particular, the sense of responsibility, commitment and perseverance, which are useful skills and necessary in any field.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Right now I'm studying for the entrance exams for the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police Force). My aim is to apply in the next call for applications which should be quite soon.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

Winning this prize represents an enormous recognition of the task I've accomplished and all the effort and dedication that I've put in over the last five years, as well as a huge motivation to keep working in this way in order to achieve new goals.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

When I finished batxillerat (upper secondary education) I hadn't decided how to tackle the future. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to understand the world around me better. That's why I chose the Law degree. It was a risky choice given my circumstances, I took the decision quickly, mainly just following my intuition. In any case, I was lucky, and the further I got into the world of law, the more I liked it, until I felt I wanted to make this my professional career.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

The thing that stands out most that I've learnt in my academic journey is that you have to find time for everything. I think that finding a balance between studying, work, time for your hobbies and the people you love is crucial for preserving your mental health. In the end, even though the usual narrative says you have to renounce things, make sacrifices and just focus entirely on your studies, it doesn't often mention how important it is to find time for your personal life. Finding time for this is as important as working hard and having energy, when you need it, to push yourself and be the best version of yourself.

There was a period when achieving excellence was my priority, and it took up almost all my time. Knowing how to recognise that this behaviour is not healthy, learning to diversify and realise that excellent results can also be achieved without giving up your own needs, is the most valuable lesson I'm taking away from this university experience.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

At the moment I've just come back from Singapore, where I was doing a Master's specialising in International Business Law. Now I'm going to start a university Master's in Law at ESADE.

In September 2023 I'm going to start working in the Intellectual and Industrial Property Department of Uría Menéndez.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

Winning this prize represents a recognition of the effort, the commitment and the dedication as well as the time invested in this degree. I see it as the sum of a long path of personal growth. What's more, it's a great motivation for me to keep pushing myself to achieve my goals.

However, and this doesn't mean I'm not very happy, I think it's important to be aware that it isn't only effort which determines who gets this prize. I've had the privilege of having certain financial conditions and family that have given me their full support, and that's why I view winning this prize with a certain humility.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

While I was doing batxillerat (upper secondary education) I wasn't really sure what to do. I've always been interested in science and biology was one of the subjects I liked most. However, I was also interested in the humanities and human behaviour. I thought that medicine combined these diverse interests well, as it's cross-disciplinary, and combines medical knowledge with dealing with people.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

I think one of the best learning experiences I've had have been the simulations we've done during the course, as they allow you to apply the knowledge learnt in a theoretical way to very similar situations to those experienced by doctors. What's more, the atmosphere at the faculty and on the course has always been very friendly, facilitating good relationships with most fellow students and the lecturers which improves the learning experience.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

Right now I'm studying for the MIR, the exam that medical graduates have to do to get onto a medical specialisation course. Once I've done the exam I hope to be able to choose a place in a specialism that I like so that I can start working as a doctor.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It was a really nice surprise. It's a recognition of 6 years of work in which I've had really good training, I've been able to grow as a person and I've been surrounded by some marvellous classmates.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

Since high school I've always felt strongly drawn to natural sciences, biology in particular. I've always been fascinated how a single cell, the result of the fusion of two parent cells, can create a complete organism, capable of functioning perfectly for years and able to overcome all types of obstacles and difficulties that nature and life confront it with. In the same way, my passion for understanding life states meant that I got interested in different diseases, their underlying mechanisms and the alternatives that biomedicine provides in the way of treatment. That's why I decided to study human biology at UPF, in order to be able to form part of this great team which is the scientific community, which is able to answer big questions about life, health and disease.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

I'm taking a lot of things away with me from the academic experience at UPF. Particularly, I'd like to highlight that it has meant a lot to me as a student finding out that I have a much greater potential to work and persevere than I could ever have imagined. UPF is a university which keeps you constantly busy with work, which makes you get the best out of yourself throughout the whole course. However, if there's one thing I would like to highlight from the UPF experience it is the family I'm taking with me. I'm one hundred percent convinced that nothing I've achieved, including this prize, would have been possible without all and every single one of my fellow classmates on this journey, to whom I'll always be grateful for giving me support in the hardest moments and celebrating the happiest ones with me.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm currently doing a Master's in Bioinformatics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where I'm trying to learn the necessary tools in computational biology to be able to become not just a data scientist, but a well-rounded researcher, with training in biomedicine and bioinformatics. My idea is to be able to follow a scientific career in the field of cellular and molecular biology with an experimental hybrid capacity, being able to analyse data computationally in order to be able to transfer the respective conclusions to the laboratory.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

For me this prize is the recognition of four years' hard work, which have gone by fast, but which certainly weren't short. Studying human biology at UPF has been a challenge not only in terms of gaining knowledge, which I see as a real treasure that will always be with me, but also work and perseverance. Circumstances have meant that this prize falls to me but things could have turned out very differently. It could easily have gone to many other fellow students, who, just like me, have given the best of themselves over these four years.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I found myself unable to decide what to do and that's when I discovered the Translation and Interpretation degree at UPF. I've always loved languages and the culture behind them. What's more, the idea of living abroad had been on my mind for a long time. So, on the one hand, doing this course gave me the chance to study something I liked and to go into depth in an aspect of languages that I didn't know about and that interested me a lot. And on the other hand, it offered a compulsory stay abroad and the chance to take part in a mobility programme in the fourth year. So really it included everything that I was looking for at that time.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

One of the most important things that I've learnt over the last four years is that every effort has its reward. When you do what you love and you devote time and effort to it (in my case, a lot of time and a lot of effort), you feel that afterwards it's been worth it. Not just in the academic results, but in the learning, the experience and in terms of personal satisfaction.

I also think that the independence that I've gained is important and the fact that I've learnt not only facts that are strictly connected to translation, but also other things about linguistics, humanities and culture.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm working as an English teacher and I'm continuing my academic studies at the same time. I'm doing different courses and considering a series of projects that could be useful to me in my future career.

I don't know exactly what I'll end up doing in the future, but I am sure where I'd like to end up. As a result of my Final Year Project ("Dubbing Sex Education into Catala: colloquial, credible, youth language") I decided that I wanted to carry on studying colloquial Catalan in order to be able to provide a new perspective on a speaking standard so that it is up-to-date and familiar to young people. And eventually I’d like to be able to apply this to Catalan dubbing projects in order to grow the youth audience.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It's a very valuable recognition of all the effort that’s gone into the last four years, not just on a professional level, but also a personal one. This is because this prize represents lots of effort, interest, dedication, perfectionism, and above all, passion.

What's more, it is also a confidence boost for me to keep working as I have been and to be able to achieve my goals.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I've always had a very genuine curiosity for everything related to the world of languages, and I thought that with this double degree I could explore it in depth and from many different perspectives (translation, interpretation, teaching, society, technology) and with a very practical side. What's more, the compulsory stay abroad was very tempting, I was very sure that going abroad would be a very positive experience, and I wasn't at all wrong.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

Apart from all the theoretical knowledge, I'm taking with me all my personal growth over the last five years and the people who've been part of this journey.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

In this double degree I specialised in the field of languages and technology, and this year I'm continuing my studies in this field: I'm doing a Master's in Language Analysis and Processing at the EHU/UPV. I'm not very sure what I'll do when I finish... I'd like to get some work experience as a computational linguist and to put what I'm learning into practice, although neither am I ruling out the idea of doing a doctorate in the future. I'm not closing any doors: I want to see what I find most stimulating, and above all, what makes me happy in each moment.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It's a recognition of a job well done, of effort and consistent dedication, however it's also a testimony to the great support that I've had from my family and friends which has undoubtedly had a lot to do with it.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

It was a pretty difficult decision, personally, I love the world of languages, in particular, French. When they talk to you about different options or training routes at secondary school, beyond batxillerat (upper secondary education), normally they talk about language or translation studies, but they don't know about the degree in Applied Linguistics. When I looked at the university websites to go to the Open Days, I came across this course and it looked very interesting, because it didn't restrict you to studying just language and literature, or translating between two languages, with this degree you get a much wider training. The degree opens up a whole range of possibilities, as you can become familiar with working with language from lots of different perspectives. This possibility of getting to know so many different pathways was what made me decide to do this degree, above all because I wasn't sure exactly which of these fields I wanted to focus on in my professional career.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

I've learnt that the relationships that you build with your classmates are also very important in order to be able to enjoy these four years. In a bachelor's degree you don't only learn from the lecturers who teach the subjects, you can also learn from the people who are studying in the same field as you and little by little you all ponder these encounters and have new experiences about the subject, and everyone benefits from this.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm currently doing a Master's in Teacher Training for Secondary Education. specialising in modern languages, specifically French, I started this course because I used to love French and fortunately I still do. One of the aspects of the degree which I enjoyed most was correcting and editing texts, and in the future, I'd love to be able to continue studying this skill and to be able to combine it with my work as a teacher. What's more, thanks to UPF's Campus Treball I got a job as a teacher at Campus 25, where I give classes to help mature students prepare for the PAU (university entrance exams) and the PAP (aptitude tests) for Catalan, Spanish and English. It was a great opportunity for me, really, because it gave me the chance to train up and get teaching experience while I kept on studying.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It's a great recognition of all the work of the four years of the degree, of many hours studying and working, but also of conversations in Gutenberg Square, taking a walk to Glòries, and study trips with my classmates... But in the end, languages were always part of it.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

For me, doing a degree in business administration wasn't just about getting a qualification, but about igniting a passion and following my calling. My love of economics and maths led me to discover the infinite possibilities within the business world. I knew that studying business administration would allow me to infuse my passion for maths and economics in a dynamic field that is constantly evolving. This degree opens the doors to a wide range of careers in different sectors, both private and public, non-profit or profit-oriented, it's the gateway to designing your own future and forming part of what drives success in organisations. It's not just about acquiring knowledge, but about achieving the ability to create change, to innovate and stand out.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

The most important thing that I've learnt in my university experience is the ability of taking different perspectives and being able to adapt. University has taught me that there will always be unexpected twists in the road in life and it is how we decide to move forward and navigate these that will ultimately determine our success. It has taught me to adapt and to be open to new opportunities, and not to be afraid to take risks. I've also learned that each experience, good or bad, has something to teach us and that it is essential to look at things from a positive perspective and to learn valuable lessons from them. This ability to adapt and keep a positive frame of mind has not only helped me in my time at university but also in my personal and professional life, and I think it will continue to serve me well in the future.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm currently working at the Catalan Finance Institute (Institut Català de Finances) where I've been for a year and a half. I started working there through a student work placement and I've managed to get a position in the organisation's Analysis Division. I'm also doing a Master’s in Finance at the Financial Studies Institute (Institut d'Estudis Financers), which I'm using to develop my knowledge and professional profile in this field. I see this as an opportunity to keep on growing and learning, and I look forward to seeing how this field may develop in the future. My goal is to have a significant impact in the financial world and to keep moving forward in my career.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

Winning this prize is an incredible honour and a real testimony to the effort and dedication I've put into my studies. I mean all the long hours, the late nights and the countless moments of perseverance have borne their fruits. It serves as a reminder that with determination and focus, one can achieve great things and achieve one's aims. But it isn't just about recognition, it’s also about the impact this will have in my future and the doors it will open. It's a validation of my effort and a motivation to keep pushing myself to achieve greater things and to strive for excellence in all aspects of my life. It is also a recognition of the support and guidance of the people who have helped me along the way, my family, friends and teachers. It's a reminder that hard work and dedication can lead to amazing things and that nothing is impossible.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I decided to study management because from the very start it seemed to be a very multidisciplinary course which would allow me to understand the dynamics of an organisation and help it to be more efficient and competitive. What's more, some of the subjects were taught in English which motivated me a lot as I'd always wanted to study something with an international perspective.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

I think the most important thing that I've learnt over these years at university is to learn to manage my time, as a term is very short and if you want to achieve the goals you've set for yourself, you have to be productive. What's more, you can't just be content with what they tell you, you have to go further, be curious and question things. I think that I've understood the importance of understanding different contexts and working in a team, as this facilitates your professional and personal growth. And finally, to push yourself to do what you want because effort is always rewarded.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

At the moment I'm in Barcelona working for a business consultancy firm. My aim is to keep on working and learning in the world of strategy and finance, as well as getting international experience.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

Winning this prize for the best academic record is a great recognition of my effort and dedication and it motivates me to keep pushing myself and to keep learning.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I decided to do this degree because I'd always loved numbers and maths and I decided that economics would be the perfect choice, because it combines theoretical and practical aspects and I could see a clear application for it.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

I'm taking many good things away from my experience at UPF. On the one hand, all the knowledge that I've gained over the course, not just about economics but also other areas such as law and fiscal studies. The most important thing, though, has been the people that I've shared these four years with, who apart from becoming great friends, have made everything much simpler and more pleasant.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm currently working where I did my work placement, which I found thanks to Campus Treball. In the future I'll keep working but I'd also like to continue studying and training in data analysis and business intelligence.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

For me it is a real pleasure to win this prize. It's a recognition of all the effort of the last four years. And it isn't just a recognition of my personal effort but also of the people who've been there with me, helping and supporting me in the moments when I've needed them, both family and friends.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I'd always been curious about the world of business and the challenges posed by international markets, which are increasingly complex and competitive. That's why I focused my learning in this area.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

Mainly, integrating values which I've always considered very important: rigour, valuing a job well done, social commitment and non-conformity.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm currently working in a strategic consultancy firm. It's a job that is giving me a lot of chances to grow personally and professionally. The variety of subjects and fields that it touches upon in the different projects gives me a good overview of all the challenges and opportunities that come up in the business world. In this way I can get experience in several fields and then later I can specialise in the discipline that I find most rewarding.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It is very satisfying to have won this award, which I've received as a recognition of all the effort I've put in over these last few years to studying in such a demanding and prestigious university as this. I think that it represents a recognition of all the people who have been with me on this journey, from family and friends to all the teaching staff and team at UPF.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

I decided to do Global Studies because I didn't want to feel stuck in a "traditional" degree and also because the degree is in English. What's more, almost half the students are from outside the European Union, which really impressed me. Another factor was that the degree is only three years long, which helps you specialise with one or two master's degrees afterwards.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

My experience at UPF has been very good. Most of the lecturers are excellent, the continuous assessment seems to me to be a more progressive model of learning than a single final exam. What's more, the UPF in general tends to give you fewer hours of teaching, and more individual study, which for me personally has helped me learn.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm doing a Master's at the University of Maastricht in European Studies, and my future plans seem to be headed for European institutions. I'm going to apply for a European Commission Traineeship next September.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

I didn't expect to win this prize, but obviously it is a great step forward for my academic career. I'm proud that my effort has been reflected in my final mark for the last three years.

1. Why did you decide to do this degree?

Taking the decision to study Humanities was a radical change of direction for me in my academic life. Even though I'd always liked all subjects, I was sure that I'd end up studying biology or physics. In my second year of batxillerat (upper secondary education) however, I enjoyed the topics of Spanish history and philosophy so much that I started opening up to the possibility of doing a humanities degree. One day I decided to explore the humanities subjects and I got so excited reading all the syllabuses that I decided that same evening that I would study humanities. What attracted me to this course was how interdisciplinary it was, as it allowed me to continue studying a bit of everything.

2. What do you think is the most important thing you've learnt in your time at UPF?

One of the aspects that I value most about my experience at the Pompeu is the wide foundation of interdisciplinary knowledge that I've acquired over the course of the degree. Also, these years have taught me the importance of having people close to you with whom you share interests and ways of thinking and doing things.

3. What are you doing now? What are your plans for the future?

I'm currently doing the first year of a Master's in Women's Studies, Gender and Citizenship at the University of Barcelona, organised by the Interdisciplinary Women and Gender Studies Institute (IIEDG). It's a two-year programme, so next year I'll be carrying on with this master's. I'm still not sure what I'd like to do afterwards.

4. What does winning this award mean to you?

It makes me very happy to receive this prize because it represents a recognition of all the hours of study and effort I've put in over the last four years. However it’s also a recognition of the value of the friendships that I've forged during the course. In the end, it's been the many conversations we've shared, as much about personal things as academic questions, which has motivated me not to give up, to keep trying and to always try and go further, especially during the months of lockdown.