The Barcelona International Summer School (BISS) 2021, the UPF summer school, now in its fourth year, has established itself as a fundamental tool for internationalization at home. Classes got under way today, 5 July. After the forced online edition in 2020, this year’s programme, which will run until 29 July, will, to a large extent, be given face-to-face.

The session welcoming students to the BISS 2021, within the University’s international programmes, was held online on 2 July. It involved the participation of Antoni Luna, the new UPF vice-rector for internationalization, who welcomed the students and also included presentations concerning the academic programme and the services on offer at UPF.

The 143 students enrolled (56% from UPF and 44% from abroad) come from 27 countries and will share the BISS classrooms either face-to-face or online. The international students come mainly from European countries, but some are also from India, Lebanon, Iran and Argentina.

Diversifying the catalogue of subjects which draw from the University’s strong points

The fourth edition of the programme includes seventeen subjects: five face-to-face, which, health conditions permitting, will be given on the Ciutadella campus, and twelve online (extendible in the event that face-to-face classes are not possible, adapting the latter).

The regular subjects taught are joined this year by other new ones, thus diversifying the portfolio. Some of the new courses are “Public speaking: rhetoric and oratory”, “Music and Applied Neuroscience”, “Population Health and Well-Being Consequences of Demographic Changes”, and “Using Citizen Science to Fight Mosquitos”.

The courses are subject to credit recognition (ECTS) and will be taught in English, Spanish or Catalan, always in an international class atmosphere. Structured into modules of different duration and intensity, they can be combined flexibly over periods of between one and four weeks.

The BISS provides advanced training based on the University’s academic strengths. The courses involve outstanding UPF faculty members who will share their current research with the participating students.

The courses have been designed to invite students to think and learn beyond the traditional disciplines, while approaching the study topics from theoretical, methodological and practical perspectives. Furthermore, the teaching staff can oversee independent research projects.

Collaboration with the Higher School of Economics, Moscow, one of the highlights

As part of the long-term collaboration between UPF and the Higher School of Economics (HSE), Moscow, the 2021 editions of the BISS and of the HSE Summer School have organized a series of lectures open to participants of both programmes. Despite the significant differences in course subject matters, the teachers of the HSE and of the BISS have found areas of interest for cooperation.

HSE teachers Iliva Kiriya and Nadezhda Shilova will be taking classes as guest lecturers to the BISS. They will speak on fake news in the digital age (course “Brexit, EU and Global World: Current Challenges in European Politics and Society”) and on how economists think that people think about the passage of time (on the course “Time: Human Views on the Progress of Existence”) , respectively.

Meanwhile, the UPF lecturers Andrea Noferini (Department of Political and Social Sciences) and Jordi García Ojalvo (Department of Experimental and Health Sciences), will take part as guest lecturers on two courses given by the HSE, where they will speak on populism within the European Union and brain rhythms and human decision-making, respectively.