This July, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) has held the eighth edition of the Barcelona International Summer School (BISS), which has established itself as one of the University’s programmes with the greatest international scope. With 187 students enrolled coming from 54 universities in 32 countries, the BISS 2025 has kept a clear commitment to diversity, interdisciplinarity and academic excellence.

The programme, which kicked off on 30 June and ends this Friday, 25 July, has combined a wide range of subjects with cultural and social activities designed to promote coexistence and interaction among young people from all over the world. The UPF commissioner for EUTOPIA and International Programmes, Josep Ibáñez, explained that the BISS is key to UPF’s internationalization strategy: “The BISS is an innovative and exceptional academic space that allows students from many countries to take courses and share unique experiences”. 

Josep Ibáñez, UPF commissioner for EUTOPIA and International Programmes “The BISS is a firm commitment to an open, global, and at the same time locally rooted UPF”

For the commissioner, “the BISS is a firm commitment to an open, global, and at the same time locally rooted UPF”, which will continue to grow stronger in the future. “We want UPF to be a benchmark for good students from the best universities around the world, and to do so we will continue to reinforce the quality of teaching and enrich the BISS with an internationally recognized cross-disciplinary offer”.

Diverse origins and disciplines

Of the 187 participants in this edition, 36 are UPF students, while the rest have come from all over the world from leading universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Canada, China, South Korea, Brazil, Colombia and the Netherlands, among many others. Students from the United States constitute the largest group, with 68 participants (46.6% of the total), followed by those from the United Kingdom (19), Italy (9), Canada, and Germany (7 each).

The BISS also stands out for the diversity of its academic offer, which this year consisted of a total of 24 subjects, many with an innovative format, covering areas as diverse as sustainability, copyright, gender issues, the Catalan business environment, artificial intelligence (AI), public health and audiovisual production. These latter three have aroused the greatest interest among participants, reflecting their concern about current challenges related to AI and health or their need to express themselves through audiovisual media.

With regard to the teaching staff, it is made up of 31 teachers from the different faculties of the University, the Languages UPF service and the ESCI-UPF affiliated centre. The programme has combined theoretical seminars and practical sessions, visits to places of interest and collaborative work.

Hayden Stewart, a medical biology student (USA), chose the BISS for its interesting science programme

One of the subjects most in demand is From Bench to Bedside, which focuses on biomedical research processes and drug development. Hayden Stewart, a student of medical biology of American origin, is one of the participants in this subject, which has found “really interesting to compare the guidelines of the United States and the European Union on the subject”. One of the main reasons why he chose to participate in the BISS is precisely its interesting science programme and, in fact, she enrolled for another subject to discover the relationship between science and literature based on texts by Borges. This subject was also taken by fifth-year student of the bachelor’s degree in Medicine at UPF, Daniel Sarrias, for whom the approach to Borges’ literature has been a way to discover a different approach to science than the one he has mainly followed during his studies. 

Jongwon Lee, a computer science student in South Korea, explains that at the BISS he is learning the implications of AI for art and society

Subjects such as First-Person Cinema, which invites to explore identity through audiovisual self-representation, or Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, and Society, which has established itself as the most in-demand subject on the entire programme, have also generated a great deal of interest. Jongwon Lee, a computer science student in South Korea, explains why he enrolled for this course: “At my home university, I have always done research on robotics and AI, but lacking this aspect that is rather linked to art, society. That’s why I chose this course”. Used to more theoretical training, he has also found the more participatory methodology and the debates that have been held in the classrooms of the BISS on the different implications of technology in art and culture very interesting.

Noah Luken (USA) opted for the BISS because he wanted to practise his Spanish, but he is also learning Catalan during his stay in Barcelona

Other subjects of a markedly cross-disciplinary nature also stand out, such as The Family of Tomorrow: Navigating Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Identity and Art and the Law: How Aesthetic Concepts Shape Legal Disputes about Arts, which connect the humanities with law, economics or technology. Noah Luken, a student of economics and philosophy from San Diego (California, USA), signed up for this subject. In his case, he chose to come to Barcelona because he wanted to come somewhere where Spanish was spoken and, in fact, he enrolled in the BISS Spanish conversation course. However, he has also taken the opportunity to learn some words in Catalan, as shown by his greeting us with a “Bon dia!”. His interest in local culture led him to enrol for Exploring Catalonia course: History, Politics, and Society.

Gerard Pamplona, a teacher of the subject, explains: ‘‘Over two intensive weeks we have worked on the history of Catalonia from a multidisciplinary perspective: economic, social, political and military. This approach has relied on reading, discussion, debate, conferences by renowned guests and visits to spaces such as el Born. The latter provided great added value, since they fused the theoretical knowledge worked on in class with fieldwork. Doubtless unusual content in undergraduate training”. For Pamplona, the BISS subjects “allow for far more personalized interaction and attention to the student”. “The groups are small, highly motivated and have a high level of training, which is conducive to a type of learning that is difficult to achieve on conventional degrees”, he adds. 

Noa Luken, a student of this subject, also highlights the fun side of the BISS and her stay in Catalonia. In her free time, she has visited Montserrat, in addition to participating in various activities on the social programme of the summer school. 

Inés Jodrá, a student from Zaragoza: “It is very well organized because there are several activities to meet people outside your course, which has been very good for me. I’ve made friends from other courses”.

Inés Jodrá, a student from Zaragoza studying Biomedicine in Madrid who has taken the subject on drug development at the BISS thinks along the same lines: “It is very well organized because there are several activities to meet people outside your course, which has been very good for me. I’ve made friends from other courses”.

Indeed, one of the differentiating features of the BISS is the consolidation of an expanded social programme, with midday and evening activities that have helped participants  get to know each other. In addition to the classic cultural visits and sports activities that are organized with the collaboration of Erasmus Student Network volunteers, this year the BISS has included colloquiums, film forums and meetings to address issues such as the impact of tourism in Barcelona or ethical issues concerning the impact of AI on audiovisual production. These activities have been consolidated as an essential complement to cross-disciplinary learning beyond the classroom and the creation of community among the participants from all over the world with very diverse life experiences.

Further information on the UPF BISS 2025 website.