Rovira i Virgili University

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Motto Sapientiae Liberi Libertati Sapientes (for wisdom free, for freedom wise)
Founded 1991
Finance Public (Catalan Government)
Rector Josep Anton Ferré Vidal
Location Tarragona, Reus, Vila-seca, Tortosa and El Vendrell
State Spain
Coordinates 41°07′11″N, 1°15′38″E
Address C/ de l'Escorxador, s/n

43003 Tarragona

Students (academic course 2013-2014) 11,689
Teaching and research staff (academic course 2013-2014) 1,499
Budget (2014) 102.3 M€
Affiliation Xarxa d'Universitats Institut Joan Lluís Vives
Campus 6 (2 in Tarragona, 2 in Reus, 1 in Tortosa and 1 in Vila-seca)
Website www.urv.cat
Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona

Rovira i Virgili University (Catalan: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, URV; IPA: [uniβərsiˈtad ruˈβiɾə j βirˈʒiɫi]) is located in the Catalan cities of Tarragona and Reus, Spain. Its name is in honour to Antoni Rovira i Virgili.

The University is a teaching and research institution with centres in Tarragona, Reus, Vila-seca, Tortosa and El Vendrell.

History

University education in the Tarragona area goes back to the 16th century when Cardinal Gaspar Cervantes de Gaeta[1] founded a university to teach Grammar, the Arts and Theology. This Universitas Tarraconensis was practically wiped out by the reprisals of Philip V after the War of Succession. University education did not return to the Tarragona area until the second half of the 20th century, when three different paths converged to form the Universitat Rovira i Virgili: The Universitat Laboral (Technical College), created by the Ministry of Employment in 1956, started to teach technical courses for the first time in 1961-62 with specialities in mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering. It depended on the Terrassa School of Engineering. Later, in 1972, the title of "Engineer" was changed to "Technical Engineer", and the Universitat Laboral ceased to depend on Terrassa and dropped its mechanical and engineering courses.

In 1973, the Universitat Laboral, now known as the University School of Industrial Engineering became part of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. In 1971, the Universitat de Barcelona set up local branches of the faculties of Philosophy and Letters, and Sciences in the city of Tarragona. From the very beginning, the aim was for these new courses to achieve the highest possible university recognition. As early as 1972, a request was made to convert these branches into a university college so that they could provide complete first-cycle courses. In 1977, medical courses began in Reus, and in 1983 the Spanish Parliament established the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts and the Faculty of Chemistry in Tarragona.

In 1991, the Catalan Parliament created the Universitat Rovira i Virgili from the university centres already existing in Reus and Tarragona and which depended on the Universitat de Barcelona. The 16th-century Tarragona University was thus recovered. Since then, the University has gradually increased the number of courses on offer by creating such new campuses as Sescelades and Catalunya in Tarragona, and Bellissens in Reus.

Teaching

The URV is one of the leading universities in Catalonia and Europe because of the quality of its teaching, its commitment to lifelong learning, and the excellence of its research, development and innovation. As an institution it is increasingly striving for the internationalization of research, teaching, learning and services.

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili consists of 12 faculties and schools in which 1,500 lecturers and researchers provide quality degrees to over 11,000 undergraduates and 1,500 master’s-degree and doctoral students, who attend courses in all knowledge areas: the sciences, health sciences, social and legal sciences, engineering and architecture, arts and humanities, all adapted to the European Higher Education Area.

Campuses, faculties and schools

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili has 6 campuses that house 7 faculties, 3 technical schools and 2 university schools, and also the headquarters of Baix Penedès:

Affiliated centres

Research

The leading research areas are archaeology, chemistry, tourism, oenology, energy, the environment, nutrition and health, the economy, law and education.

Technology and innovation centres

The Centre for Technological Innovation in Electronic Engineering (CITEE) of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili is a member of CIDEM’s IT network of Technological Innovation Centres. It was created in 1999 and its objective is to promote research, development, technology transfer, innovation and lifelong learning in companies and technology centres.

The CITEE works in the general thematic area of the information technologies and, more specifically, in electronic technologies and instrumentation, control and automation, communications, robotics, industrial computing and electrical engineering.

The CITEE’s activity has its origins in the R&D and technology transfer carried out by the Department of Electronic, Electric and Automatic Engineering since it was founded in 1993.

The Centre is located in the School of Engineering on the Campus Sescelades in Tarragona.

ATIC works on patents and transfer projects in the fields of biotechnology, the environment, fluid mechanics and health in conjunction with the national and international manufacturing sector. It also provides consultancy and technical reports in its fields of expertise.

As far as the environment is concerned, the Centre focuses on environmental protection, wind engineering, green engineering and sustainable chemistry.

In the field of fluid technology, the areas studied are experimental and computational fluid mechanics, mass and heat transport, computational science and applied mathematics.

The Biotechnology Area is certified by the ISO 13485: 2003 for the design and production of medical and health products. Work is carried out on biosensors, immunosensors, nanobiotechnology, biochips and multisensors, to mention just a few examples.

The Health Area is also certified by the ISO. Its main objective is to develop new knowledge on the confluence of bio-, micro- and nanotechnology in an attempt to develop diagnostic systems that are economic, non-invasive and intelligent, and which are potentially applicable to clinical, environmental and/or food analysis. Among the studies undertaken, of particular importance are the systems for detecting gluten in food and the detection of celiac disease.

AMIC is an innovation centre of the Cidem IT Network that works to offer key-in-hand solutions to environmental and industrial problems occurring in the manufacturing sectors. It specializes in heterogeneous catalysis and materials.

AMIC’s considerable experience in heterogeneous catalysis means that the centre can deal with all sorts of environmental and process problems using such catalytic reactions as selective hydrogenation, selective dehydrogenation, selective oxidation, selective hydrodechloration, isomeraization, aldolic and Claisen-Schmidt condensation and etherification.

AMIC designs, synthesizes, characterizes and evaluates the performance, selectivity and life of catalysts. It also works on the synthesis of microporous and mesoporous materials such as zeolites, HMS, MCM, SBA, mesoporous cerium oxide, hydrotalcites, activated carbon, high surface area aluminium fluoride, different phases of aluminium oxide, and nanomaterials such as Ag, Au, Pt, Cu and Pd nanocubes and other morphologies.

The Innovation Centre in Catalyst Development for Sustainable Processes is the sixth URV innovation centre that belongs to the CIDEM IT Network (Catalan Government). The origins of the Centre lie in the research carried out by the group Organometallics and Homogeneous Catalysis (OMICH) of the URV’s Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry. This group researches into catalysts and since the middle of the 1980s has mainly worked on homogeneous and enantioselective catalysis. It has always received public funding.

TecaT’s mission is to promote and manage this research in an attempt to apply innovative technologies in processes that require highly active and selective catalysts and develop environmentally sustainable processes. As well as this technology transfer activity in the field of catalysis, the Centre works with the URV on the master's degree in Catalysis and training courses.

METEOR belongs to the TECNIO d’ACC1Ó network of the Catalan Government and is involved in the following activities:

- Research and development

- Technology transfer

- Courses

The mission of TecnATox is to carry out research and development in the field of environmental protection in Europe and satisfy the needs of government and the manufacturing sectors through knowledge and technology transfer in order to improve health and the quality of life, and protect the environment. TecnATox is a research centre that specializes in the transfer of technology in the ambit of toxicology, environmental health and food. It is a member of Xarxa TECNIO d'ACC1Ó (Network of support to technological innovation).

The centre is located at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, in Reus, the School of Chemical Engineering and the Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, both in Tarragona.

The Toxicology and Environmental Health Laboratory (LTSM) was founded in 1985 and, at present, is staffed by highly qualified research and technical personnel with considerable experience in the study, development and industrial implementation of all the services. In 2008, the LTSM was converted into the Centre for Environmental, Food and Toxicological Technology (TecnATox). The Centre officially became a member of the Xarxa IT (Network for Technological Innovation), which gives support to technological innovation. This network now goes under the name of TECNIO.

TecnATox has at its disposal the necessary infrastructure and equipment to ensure the success of all its projects: fully equipped laboratories, the latest simulation software, environmental databases, etc. Absolute professionalism and confidentiality are guaranteed.

TecnATox was one of the first research groups in Catalonia, Spain and Europe to evaluate the risks to human health of exposure to environmental chemical agents. The Centre is divided into four areas of expertise:

And it takes an interest in the following sectors:

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili and TecnATox have the following objectives:

The Technology Centre for Nutrition and Health gives food companies support and assistance in the field of nutrition and health. It carries out research and provides scientific services throughout the process involved in designing, producing, validating and marketing a functional food which, by its very nature, must have a healthy nutritional profile.

The Centre has the institutional support of ACC1Ó (Agency for the Innovation and Internationalization of Catalan Enterprise), the Universitat Rovira I Virgili and the Reus Town Council, as well as 14 representative companies from the sector. It is also a member of the following knowledge, research, transfer and innovation networks: The European NutriGenomics Organisation (NuGO), the Catalan Association of Technology (ACTec), the National Network of Biostatistics (Biostatnet), the Network of Scientific Culture Units (UCC - FECYT) and the Innovative Business Association for Nutrition and Health (AINS).

The Chemistry Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTQC) is a non-profit making private foundation that was created in 2008 with the purpose of making an effective contribution to sustainability, competitiveness, innovation and technological progress in the chemical sector in Catalonia by providing services, carrying out RDI projects, and creating, adapting and transferring innovative technologies in a framework of collaboration with other agents.

Among the Centre’s priorities are research into new materials, water technology and the application of European environmental directives to the chemical industry.

The Centre is a member of the Catalan Government’s ACC1Ó Network of Technology Centres, and the Southern Catalonia Campus of International Excellence (CEICS).

Research centres

CRAMC is a URV research centre made up of researchers from the Department of Psychology. It specializes in generating and/or applying instruments for assessing and measuring behaviour. In its session of 22 December 2005, the URV’s Governing Council approved the creation of the centre in response to the quality of the research being undertaken. CRAMC’s mission is to carry out quality research in the assessment and measurement of behaviour. Its aim is to:

The Research Center in Engineering of Materials and Micro/NanoSystems, EMaS, belongs to the Rovira i Virgili University. Its research work focuses on the field of the science and engineering of new materials and their nanostructuration, and on their application to the design and development of micro and nanosystems.

The EMaS Research Center has more than 80 researchers who are experts in such fields as physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, optics, photonics, electronic engineering, and environmental engineering.

The Alcalde Pere Lloret Centre for Environmental Law Studies in Tarragona (CEDAT) was founded in 2007 and is a project that involves Tarragona City Council, EMATSA (Tarragona Water Board), EMT (the Tarragona Municipal Transport Company) and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. It arose out of a long history of cooperation on issues of environmental law between the Tarragona City Council and the Faculty of Law and the Department of Public Law of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, and it represents the institutionalization of this cooperation.

The Centre bears the name of Alcalde Pere Lloret, a famous jurist and mayor of Tarragona, in recognition of his defence of democratic principles and human values in the governance of the city of Tarragona.

CEDAT’s objectives are to generate and socialize knowledge in the field of environmental law and, in particular, in the world of local management and administration.

The Research Centre on Industrial Economics and Public Economics (CREIP) is organized around two topics of economic analysis: industrial organization and public economics. The former studies the interaction between the productive agents in markets, with particular emphasis on the economic implications of the decisions taken in the public sector. Public economics, on the other hand, analyzes the decisions taken in the public sector from both a positive perspective—that is to say, the effects of public interventions in the economy—and from a normative perspective—that is to say, the instruments and actions that must be implemented to attain some previously established objectives.

The Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Centre for Climate Change (C3), located on the Terres de l’Ebre Campus, is continuing the research and teaching tradition of the Research Group in Climate Change of the Predepartmental Unit of Geography.

Among its areas of activity are research, teaching, scientific consultancy, knowledge transfer and the communication of these activities.

C3 undertakes research projects and discloses its results in publications and at scientific congresses, symposia and seminars. It helps to organize and teach master's degree and doctoral programmes, and other specialist and training courses for professionals. It carries out scientific and technical projects, and channels the transfer of results to individuals and public and private institutions within the framework of the legislation in force. It also organizes scientific outreach events and provides scientific and technological services.

Creation of technology-based companies (EBTs)

University institutes

The Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) is a university institute that provides such services as teacher training, educational innovation and technical consultancy at a variety of educational levels.

The Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology is a public research centre created in the year 2000 by the Catalan Government and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, with the participation of the Inter-university Council of Catalonia. It aims to carry out research, teach advanced courses and provide information about classical civilization and culture. It is housed in a building belonging to the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Tarragona City Council.

As well as organizing various lines of research in classical archaeology, the Institute also provides a master's degree in classical archaeology in conjunction with the Universitat Rovira I Virgili and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

The Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution is a transdisciplinary, advanced research institute that was founded in 2006. Its objectives are to carry out scientific research programmes in the earth and life sciences, promote their socialization and use the results in prospective social research of an evolutionary nature.

On the basis of the Institute’s research, third-cycle courses are taught at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

The Pere Virgili Institute for Health Research (IISPV) promotes, conducts, manages and communicates health and biomedical research, and research training. To achieve this last objective, IISPV organizes a programme in research training and it has entered into collaboration agreements with health institutions and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili to share initiatives and resources.

The Institute conducts various lines of research. One of them is nutrition and health, a field in which it has leading groups in both hospitals and the University. There is a project underway to link the research and business activity that is taking place within the Tecnoparc, in Reus, to which the IISPV will contribute all of its human and technical potential.

Another field of study is obesity, metabolic disease and cardiovascular risk, which involves leading national and international groups from the Sant Joan University Hospital (Reus), the Joan XXIII University Hospital (Tarragona) and the URV. These groups belong to CIBER and they carry out basic, translational and clinical research.

Professionals from a variety of hospitals collaborate in the area of oncology: the Verge de la Cinta Hospital in Tortosa (basic research into lymphomas), the Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus (clinical and epidemiological research into cancer) and the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona (clinical research).

The area of neurosciences and mental health collaborates with the Pere Mata Psychiatric University Hospital in Reus. They are national pioneers in the study of genetic determinants of various psychiatric diseases. Some groups from the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona lead the field in research on pain.

The area of health and environment analyzes the impact of various components in the environment (toxics, microorganisms) on people’s health. It includes groups that specialize in toxicology and others that research into microorganisms and infectious diseases, belonging both to the University and the health institutions.

Finally, there is the area of clinical innovation, which includes all specialist staff who work in research that does not belong to the areas described above.

The URV is a member of the IREC board, the aim of which is to contribute to the sustainable development of society and increase the competitiveness of companies through innovation and the development of new technological products. It is also involved in medium- and long-term research, and scientific development and technological knowledge in the field of energy.

The main goals of IREC, then, are to - promote and carry out research into energy to obtain results of high scientific and technological value in the medium and long term; - drive the development of the research lines in energy technology approved by the Institute and adapt them to the demands of the sector; - provide engineering services with high added value to companies in the energy sector; - act as a strategic consultant for the government on energy issues; - construct a collaboration network with the major national and international energy technology and research centres; - provide companies and entrepreneurs with the technological innovations resulting from the Institute’s research; - take part in the specialized training of Catalan university students; and - make the Institute’s laboratories and equipment available to university departments.

The Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) was created to contribute to the objective of creating a more sustainable future for energy usage and consumption, bearing in mind economic competitiveness and providing society with the maximum level of energy security.

The technological and research areas of IREC are lighting, thermal energy and building, bioenergy and biofuels, offshore wind energy, power electronics and electrical networks, and advanced materials for energy.

University hospitals

The Sant Joan University Hospital first started operating in the city of Tarragona in October 1967. At present it has 399 beds and 36 services.

URV Foundation

Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre. Tarragona
Lifelong Learning Centre. Reus

The URV Foundation is the institution created by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili to promote the relation between the University and society.

Since it was founded in 1999, the URV Foundation has provided a structure for about one hundred research groups and it has provided more than 14,000 students with courses taught by more than 3,000 academics and professionals.

URV Foundation
Founded 1999
Finance Public
Director Josep Anton Ferré
Location Tarragona and Reus, Catalonia
State Spain
Address Av. Països Catalans, 18 Tarragona

Av Onze de Setembre, 112 Reus

Students 2,500 per year
Campus 2
Website www.fundacio.urv.cat

Chairs for the promotion of knowledge transfer and innovation

Created in 2013, its aim is to establish a stable platform for research, teaching and the transfer of know-how on housing matters from an inter-disciplinary and international point of view. It is the first of its kind in Catalonia and one of the first in Spain.More information: http://housing.urv.cat/en/cover/

Set up in 2005 between Dow Chemical Ibèrica and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, its mission is to generalize and socialize knowledge in the field of sustainability, which is based on the environment, the social and economic systems, and technology.

The objective of the URV-Business Chair is to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and the creation of businesses in the Tarragona region.

The UNESCO Chair for data Privacy came about as the result of an agreement between the UNESCO and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Its objective is to drive research, education and outreach in the field of data privacy, a fundamental right recognized by the United Nations in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

The Antoni Pedrol i Rius Chair was set up by the Pedrol Rius Cultural Foundation of Reus, Reus Town Council, the URV Foundation and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili with the purpose of giving local legal issues greater unity and importance.

The objectives of CEDAT are to generate and socialize knowledge in the field of environmental law and, in particular, in the world of local management and administration.

The Rovira i Virgili University has gradually become a reference point in Catalonia and Spain for environmental law thanks to the continual hard work and desire to improve of the lecturers involved and to the support of other professionals and institutions.

The URV-Repsol YPF Chair is the result of a collaboration agreement between the University—in particular the Predepartmental Unit of Communication, and Repsol YPF. The Chair carries out research, teaches university students and publishes works in the field of social communication, and it strives to promote quality and ethical and aesthetic excellence.

Set up as the result of an agreement with the Tarragona Business Council, the main objective of the University-Business Chair is to become a focus of analysis, reflection and debate to promote innovation and the competitivenesss of companies in the Tarragona region.

The Chair for Local and Regional Economy provides agents from the Tarragona region—and particularly the Terres de l’Ebre—with knowledge transfer services. It was set up thanks to a URV initiative that had the support of Tortosa Town Council and the Tarragona Provincial Council.

Chairs for the promotion of knowledge extension and reflexion on social problems

Set up by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Rovira i Virgili University, the UNESCO Chair for Intercultural Dialogue in the Mediterranean aims to promote an integrated system of activities involving research, training, information and documentation in the field of intercultural and interreligious dialogue in the Mediterranean.

Rankings

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.arquebisbattarragona.cat/historia/archiepiscoplogi/index.php?arxiu=fitxa_arxi&id=2337
  2. ↑ https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/university-of-rovira-i-virgili#ranking-dataset/589595

Coordinates: 41°07′11″N 1°15′38″E / 41.1197°N 1.2605°E / 41.1197; 1.2605

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