The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is a public university based principally in Bellaterra, in the municipality of Cerdanyola del Vallès, near Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Its main campus is in Bellaterra; it also has a campus in Sabadell and facilities at Barcelona’s Hospital de Sant Pau.211
The decree creating UAB was promulgated on 6 June 1968, and its first four faculties were established the following month. Vicent Villar Palasí led the university’s founding promotional committee and became its first rector in 1970.2 The current rector is Javier Lafuente Sancho, a professor of chemical engineering.6
UAB’s activities span higher education, doctoral training and research. In 2024/25 it offered 109 bachelor’s degrees, 144 official master’s degrees and 68 doctoral programmes; its research and academic structure includes 57 departments and a range of research groups, institutes and centres.13 The university’s 2024 research and knowledge-transfer funding totalled €126.2 million.
Its work also has a substantial international dimension. UAB participates in international research projects and collaborations, and its academic community includes students from abroad; the university reports more than 10,000 international students.12 Its principal institutional footprint is in Catalonia, while its education, mobility and research links extend nationally and internationally.12