Press room
[31/08/2010]
Over a hundred students have taken part in the European Free Technology Academy
The Free Technology Academy (FTA), a joint initiative involving a number of European educational institutions, is to be organised for the third time this September. Free software, legality in terms of ICTs or network technologies are some of the aspects to be dealt with by this project involving three European universities, one of which being the UOC.
[06/08/2010]
The UOC research centres are to move to the new Media-TIC building in Barcelona from September
As of September, the UOC's Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and eLearn Center (eLC) are to move to the new Media-TIC building in Barcelona's Poblenou neighbourhood. The building belongs to the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB). This singular building is designed to be a centre for information and communication technologies activities in Barcelona's 22@ district.
[23/07/2010]
The UOC, closer to Latin America
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) has renewed its agreements with institutions in Latin America with the objective of strengthening ties with the continent. These institutions include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) and the National Autonomous University of Bucaramanga (UNAB).
[22/07/2010]
The MBA of the UOC conducts Business Week
This week the MBA, Social MBA and e-MBA programs of the university are conducting Business Week. These are seminars aimed at students in these master?s programs in the area of Global Executive Education of the IIP that offer skills and techniques for executives.
[21/07/2010]
The importance of digital and information skills at university is the central theme of the new volume of the RUSC journal (Journal of the University and Knowledge Society). This UOC publication reaches issue two of the seventh volume with an analysis of the different perspectives of these skills.
[20/07/2010]
Online conflict resolution the focus of the latest issue of IDP
The resolution of conflicts arising on the web is the focus of issue number 10 of the journal. It offers analysis of the different rules with which the relationships occurring on the internet are structured and fostered. It also studies the impact of information and communication technologies on political institutions.
[20/07/2010]
After two meetings the World Congress for Middle Eastern and North African Studies (WOCMES) has become the main international point of encounter for experts, academics and researchers in humanities, social sciences and related disciplines, who focus their work on a vast area: the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Asian Muslim states.
[08/07/2010]
The UOC forms part of the Slow Food university network
An agreement has been signed by Dr. Imma Tubella, UOC President, and Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food, which will allow the university's Food Systems, Culture and Society Area to participate in this movement which aims to preserve traditional foods by promoting a new model that respects biodiversity and the environment.
[08/07/2010]
Michael T. Jones: "Google is a mirror to the world"
Michael T. Jones, Google's Chief Technology Advocate and one of the creators of Google Earth, gave a talk entitled The Power of Information at the Palau de la Música Catalana. The talk formed part of the annual Alumni meeting, which was presided over by Imma Tubella, UOC President, in the company of Llorenç Valverde, UOC Vice President for Technology, and Maria Parareda, Director of Alumni.
[06/07/2010]
Cloud Computing, under debate at the Sixth IDP Conference
The Sixth International IDP Conference - Internet, Law and Politics will be held on 7 and 8 July and will be focusing this year on Cloud Computing, the IT paradigm that allows users to run applications that are on the web instead of being stored in the computer's local hard drive. Promoted and organised by the UOC Law and Political Science Department as part of the IN3 (Internet Interdisciplinary Institute), with the support of El Derecho Editores and Orange, the Conference has established itself as the annual meeting place for researchers, academics and professionals interested in the consequences of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the different spheres of law and politics.
[30/06/2010]
Rectors of UfM universities commit to fostering student and researcher mobility
At the conference, held today in the Historical Complex of the Hospital Sant Pau, in Barcelona, managers of higher education centres from the 43 Union for the Mediterranean countries (UfM) have agreed to provide greater facilities to students to recognise credits approved at universities and to make student and teaching staff exchanges more flexible than at present.
[29/06/2010]
Rectors from 21 countries meet in Barcelona to approve a Euro-Mediterranean universities declaration
Rectors from 21 countries are to meet on Tuesday 29 June at Barcelona's Historical Complex of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, within the framework of the First Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Rectors Conference. The conference is set to see the proposal of specific measures to make progress towards the construction of the Euromed higher education area. The starting point is the document entitled The Contribution of the Euromed Universities to Social Progress, which has been sent out to more than 1,500 universities. The aim of the meeting, which is to involve UOC President Imma Tubella, is to promote a declaration from the Union for the Mediterranean Rectors.
[29/06/2010]
Michael T. Jones, Google's Chief Technology Advocate and one of the founders of Google Earth, is to give a talk entitled The Power of Information at 7:45 pm on Thursday 1 July at Barcelona's Palau de la Música Catalana. The talk forms part of the Annual Alumni Meeting to be presided over by Imma Tubella, UOC President, in the company of Llorenç Valverde, UOC Vice President for Technology, and Maria Parareda, Director of Alumni.
[28/06/2010]
The UOC is taking part in a conference on learning in higher education
The UOC will be taking part in the ICED 2010 conference, the biennial congress of the International Consortium for Educational Development. Entitled Enhancing Strategies for Global Quality Learning in Higher Education, this year's conference will deal with the strategies to improve the global quality of learning in higher education. Organised by the Spanish Network in Higher Education (RED-U), the conference will bring together nearly four hundred professionals and academics from thirty-two countries, and will take place on 28, 29 and 30 June in Pompeu Fabra University?s Poblenou Communication Campus auditorium.
[21/06/2010]
The UOC creates first MBA in Real Estate
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) is set to unveil Spain's first master's degree in real estate at 7 pm on 22 June at its headquarters (Av. Tibidabo 39-43, Barcelona). It is being started up with the aim of training real estate sector executives and businesspeople for the 21st century. Josep Maria Duart, UOC Vice President for Postgraduate Studies and Lifelong Learning, explained that it is to provide them with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values required to make the Spanish real estate sector a point of reference for best practices and to ensure that the bust seen in Spain recently is not repeated.
[18/06/2010]
T-Systems and the UOC embrace virtual and augmented reality
T-Systems, the business services division of Deutsche Telekom, has signed a collaboration agreement with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) to promote its Innovation Lab and carry out joint projects in the fields of virtual and augmented reality. The goal is to work together on augmented reality technology in order to enrich innovation in this technology in a variety of sectors.
[17/06/2010]
The eLearn Center and the IN3 unveil publications
The UOC research centres, the eLearn Center (eLC), the e-learning research, innovation and teaching centre, and the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), the research institute specialising in the network society, the knowledge economy, and the study of web technologies and specific areas of software, have unveiled their own publications.
[14/06/2010]
Experts debate on Corporate Social Responsibility
Promoted by National Employment Promotion of Catalonia (Foment del Treball Nacional de Catalunya), Novartis and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, the Forum aligned itself with the recent United Nations Global Compact initiative aimed at adopting a renewed ethical framework of economic activity in light of the lessons worldwide of the financial crisis and the economic recession. Political leaders from a number of administrations, representatives from the business sector, trades unionists and representatives from business schools took part in a multilateral debate to expand and disseminate the knowledge base and to foster dialogue between the different interest groups and harmony between the public and private sectors.
[14/06/2010]
The UOC collaborates in a forum on Corporate Social Responsibility
The UOC is one of the institutions organising the first International Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Conceived as a space for debate, the forum brings together leading experts, political leaders and representatives from the business sector and civil society to reflect both on the evolution of conceptual and institutional frameworks and on good practices related to CSR. The President of National Employment Promotion (Foment del Treball Nacional), Juan Rosell, the President of the Health, Innovation and Society Foundation (Novartis), Jesús Acebillo, and the President of the UOC, Imma Tubella, will open the conference, which will take place in Barcelona on 31 May. The closing ceremony will be given by the Councillor for Employment with the Catalan government, Mar Serna.
[14/06/2010]
The UOC's teaching materials adapted to the iPad
The UOC's Office of Learning Technologies has been hard at work since the unveiling of the iPad to adapt contents to this new type of mobile touch device. This is one of the wide range of proposals at the UOC to provide educational content on any new device that can be used by students and aid their learning.
[14/06/2010]
Education is the solution proposed by Ferran Adrià to overcome the crisis
Ferran Adrià and Ferran Soriano took part in the third Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) International Graduate Institute Conference on leadership and talent, aimed above all at companies and entrepreneurs.
[09/06/2010]
Catalan and African universities work together to improve management of research
The aim of the first project to be developed by the Inter-university University Management Consortium (CIGU) is to develop specific IT applications for research management based on free and open-source software. They are to increase the visibility of and strengthen the work carried out in the field of academic research at five important African universities. The consortium was formed in January by the eight Catalan public universities and five African universities - Senegal's Cheikh Anta Diop, Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane, Cameroon's Yaoundé I, Madagascar's Antananarivo and Equatorial Guinea's National University
[08/06/2010]
Educational excellence is possible in a multicultural social context
According to Roser Salavert, doctor in educational management and general manager of the public schools in New York's school district 3, educational excellence is possible in a multicultural social context. This is one of the conclusions that she put forward at the recent Education Debates, a series of debates analysing and reflecting on teaching organised by the Jaume Bofill Foundation and the UOC. Entitled "Educational Excellence for Everyone: A Possible Reality", the lecture was given on 1 June at the MACBA Auditorium. The following is a summary of the lecture.
[28/05/2010]
The main aim of the new UNESCO-FCB-UOC Chair in Sport as a Tool for Social Co-existence and Conflict Resolution, which was launched on Thursday by Joan Laporta, FC Barcelona Chairman; Imma Tubella, UOC President; Marta Segú, FC Barcelona Foundation General Manager, and Eduard Vinyamata, Director of the UOC's Campus for Peace, is to promote social co-existence and peaceful conflict resolution through sport.
[18/05/2010]
The UOC and the FAO unite to offer online programmes on food security
Today, Imma Tubella, President of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), and Hafez Ghanem, Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Development Department, FAO, signed an agreement to integrate the FAO's Food Security Information for Decision Making Distance Learning programmes into the UOC's Department of Food Systems, Culture and Society.
[10/05/2010]
The UOC collaborates with the Mercè Sala Human Factor Award
The UOC is to collaborate in the 2nd Mercè Sala Award. This award is for business initiatives that prioritise people. The event, which focuses on the human factor and coherency, is to involve renowned public figures such as psychologists Xavier Guix and Pep Marí and Lluís Bassat through an audiovisual production. The prize-giving ceremony is to take place at 7 pm next Tuesday, 11 May, at Barcelona?s CaixaForum.
[06/05/2010]
Eighty UOC employees take part in the charitable Inter-company Games
For the third consecutive time, the UOC is taking part in this year's Inter-company Games in this their sixth holding. Eighty University employees are to take part in the Games. The money raised will go to charitable projects: Somriure dels Nens, Casal dels Infants and Matres Mundi. The Inter-company Games activities, which will start on 6 May and continue on until 10 June, are to take place in different parts of the Barcelona area.
[06/05/2010]
The UOC's Barcelonès Centre to host the International 10 Years since Military Service Conference
The UOC is to host the International 10 Years since Military Service Conference on 15 May at its Barcelonès Centre (Rambla de Catalunya 6, 2nd floor). The Conference has been organised by Moviment per la Pau and the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, with support from the Catdem Foundation and the UOC's Campus for Peace. The speakers include renowned public figures such as Xavier Badia, Director of the Catalan government's Office for Peace and Human Rights; Carles Campuzano, member of the Spanish congress for CiU; Jordi Pacheco, the Catalan government's Assistant General Director of Participation; Toni Comín, member of the Catalan parliament for PSC - Ciutadans pel Canvi; Raül Romeva, member of the European parliament for ICV; Tica Font, from the International Catalan Institute for Peace, and Imma Tubella, President of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC).
[30/04/2010]
The UOC launches e-treball to aid work-life balance and promote flexibility in the workplace
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) has started up a pilot project, called e-treball (e-work), to aid work-life balance at the University and promote flexibility in the workplace. The UOC launches this initiative coinciding with 1 May, International Workers' Day.
[26/04/2010]
UOC lecturer's thesis wins Catalan Studies Institute award
Teresa Iribarren, lecturer in the UOC's Arts and Humanities Department, has won the Nicolau d'Olwer Award for Language Studies from the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Catalan Studies Institute, IEC) for the best doctoral thesis. The thesis, entitled La revolució silenciosa: prosa i narrativa cinematogràfiques dels 'silent days' (The Silent Revolution: Cinematographic Narrative and Prose of the 'Silent Days') is the first in the field of Catalan language studies that looks at the interdisciplinary links between literature and silent film. Montserrat Tura, Catalan Justice Minister, and Salvador Giner, IEC President, presided over the award ceremony that took place last Thursday at the Institute. Industrial engineer Joan Carles Alayo i Manubens, this year's winner of the Prat de la Riba Award, spoke on behalf of the winners.
[22/04/2010]
Open day for St George's Day at the UOC's new centre
As part of the celebrations for St George's Day, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) has organised an Open Day at its new centre in downtown Barcelona (Rambla Catalunya 6) for its university community and the public in general.
[22/04/2010]
Manuel Castells named an adviser to the Library of Congress
Manuel Castells, Professor and Director of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), has been named as an Academic Adviser to the Library of Congress. This board advises the Librarian of Congress on important academic and research subjects linked to the library's activities. The Library of Congress is the USA's most prestigious library and holds the world's largest number of volumes.
[22/04/2010]
UOC students take part in an international simulation as United Nations diplomats
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) Campus for Peace is to take part in the 5th International Catalonia Model United Nations (C'MUN), organised by the United Nations Association of Spain, which starts on 21 April and ends on 24 April 2010. It is a meeting that brings together more than 400 students from around the world over 4 days to take part in a simulation of the United Nations system at Barcelona's CosmoCaixa.
[21/04/2010]
The UOC takes part in the Una Sola Terra International Symposium
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) is to take part in the 11th International Una Sola Terra (One Earth) Symposium which brings together environmental experts from different countries to debate subjects such as climate change or sustainability. The event is to take place at the University of Barcelona's Faculty of Geography on 3 and 4 May. This year, for first time and as part of the Symposium, the final day's activities are to be held at the UOC's headquarters on 4 June to mark World Environment Day (5 June).
[20/04/2010]
Collaborative environments, the semantic web, augmented reality, mobile computing, open content, and social media are the six technologies with the greatest potential impact in higher education in Latin America, Spain and Portugal in the next five years. This was the verdict of a group of more than 40 experts in the innovative use of ICT, who met in Puebla, Mexico, to debate how new technologies could improve higher education in Iberoamerica. These technologies will be part of the 2010 Horizon Report: Iberoamerican Edition, which is a joint initiative from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) and the New Media Consortium (NMC).
[16/04/2010]
The UOC's Facebook page gains a hundred fans a week
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) Facebook page has gained a hundred new fans a week since February 2010. Currently, the total number of followers of the UOC on this social network stands at 2,828 and forecasts show that it is only going to continue increase.
[13/04/2010]
Experts debate the impact of emerging technologies in improving higher education
The 2010 Horizon Report: Iberoamerican Edition is an initiative from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), Spain, and the New Media Consortium (NMC). It is the first time a special edition of this renowned project is being produced for Iberoamerica. The aim of this meeting in Puebla, Mexico, on 14, 15 and 16 April is to identify the six technologies with the greatest potential for impact in higher education in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. The meeting is to involve 40 experts in the innovative use of new technologies. They are to spend the three days debating how these technologies can contribute significantly to improving higher education in Iberoamerica over the next five years.
[08/04/2010]
The Associació Catalana d?Universitats Públiques (Catalan Association of Public Universities, ACUP), which includes the University of Barcelona (UB), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), the University of Girona (UdG), the University of Lleida (UdL), Rovira i Virgili University (URV) and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), presented its International Projection Plan for the Catalan Public Universities 2010-2015 on Thursday. This plan, which was outlined in the White Paper on the University of Catalonia, reinforces the ACUP universities? desire to become a point of reference for university systems in Europe, thanks to the unique and complementary natures of the institutions that form part of the association. The plan has been produced by the ACUP, through its International Relations Committee, which is made up of the Vice Presidents for International Relations, the International Relations offices and the ACUP?s Executive Secretary.
[07/04/2010]
ICT and architecture, the future of the health system
"Infrastructure is becoming an increasingly important factor when speaking of health. With the implementation of ICT the future of the health system will involve a notable change in the design of hospitals. This transformation will make active participation of architects essential in the process of design and implementation of ICT in hospitals, redesigning space in accordance with latent needs". These declarations were made by Dr. Francesc Saigí, professor and Director of the Telemedicine Network of the Area of Health Sciences at the UOC, in reference to World
Health Day.
[07/04/2010]
Presentation of the ELAN.cat study on multilingualism in Catalan companies
The vice president of the Government, Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, the minister of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, Josep Huguet, and the rector of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), Imma Tubella, will preside, on Wednesday April 7, the act of presentation of the study on the situation of multilingualism in Catalan small and medium enterprises ELAN.cat: multilingualism in Catalan companies, elaborated by the Linguamón-UOC Chair in Multilingualism with support from the consulting firm DYM.
[06/04/2010]
The rector strengthens the UOC's ties with international educational institutions
The rector of the UOC, Imma Tubella, is meeting this week with international educational institutions with headquarters in Paris with the objective of reinforcing their ties to the University. The agenda includes meetings with representatives of UNESCO and the OECD.
[06/04/2010]
One year of virtual learning at the eLearn Center
One year ago, in February 2009, the UOC set in motion the eLearn Center (eLC), a research, innovation and training center in virtual learning (e-learning), specifically devoted to higher education and lifelong learning. This center is a space in constant evolution where it is possible to organize all work on virtual learning and continue to break new ground in the field of education and information and communication technologies (ICT). With the same impulse that has characterized it since its inception, this year the eLC is undertaking new projects with the aim of improving educational practices through the use of ICT.
[06/04/2010]
First edition of the micro story competition "Picasso in Words"
This proposal stems from the LletrA project, a collaboration between the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and the Picasso Museum of Barcelona. The panel of judges is made up of Màrius Serra, Mercè Ibarz, Biel Mesquida, Pepe Serra, director of the Picasso Museum, and Llorenç Valverde, vice-rector of the Open University of Catalonia
[24/03/2010]
The implications of communication technologies in Latin America and Africa
The UOC's research institute, the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), has published the most important results from the International Conference on Development and Information Technologies held at the University in October. The aim of the conference was to promote interdisciplinary debate on the influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs), specifically mobile telephones and the internet, on the social and economic development of Latin America and Africa.
[17/03/2010]
The UOC and FAO are partnering to offer a Certificate in Food Security
The UOC's Department of Food Systems, Culture and Society, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations are partnering to offer a fully accredited, online certificate in Food Security: Assessment and Action. As part of this collaboration, FAO has also coordinated scholarships. Currently, there are 9 people from Sudan who have received scholarships to participate in this certificate.
[03/03/2010]
The UOC welcomes its new students
As at the start of every semester, the UOC's Support Centres are organising welcome sessions involving veteran students for those who are enrolling for the first time at the University. These sessions, which take place around Catalonia and Spain, offer students the chance to find out about the most important aspects of how the University works.
[02/03/2010]
The Horizon Report:Ibero-America Edition begins online work
The Advisory Board for the 2010 Horizon Report Ibero-America is to start up a debate, via a wiki, on the uses of emerging technologies in education in Ibero-America. The report will collate the conclusions from this collaborative work, which is to identify the six technologies with most potential for teaching and learning over the next five years. This project is a joint initiative of the eLearn Center and the New Media Consortium.
[02/03/2010]
The UOC and Michigan State University sign a collaboration agreement to promote food systems studies
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) and Michigan State University (MSU) have signed a collaboration agreement that aims to establish a close working relationship between these two institutions in distance and open education, and, more specifically, in the master?s degree programme on Food, Society and International Food Governance. Within the framework of this programme, the agreement contemplates mutual cooperation in the Food Regulation specialisation course. Teaching on this programme is scheduled to begin in March.
[02/03/2010]
O2, the UOC's institutional repository up and running
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) institutional repository, O2 the Oberta in open access, was rolled out on 1 March. The repository holds the open-access e-journals produced by the UOC in the fields of research, teaching and management. The aim of O2 is to collect, preserve and disseminate the University's academic and scientific production in order to increase visibility and impact. With the start-up of the repository, the University is looking to increase the levels of recognition and prestige for its intellectual activities.
[26/02/2010]
The UOC presents its new project for peace:
A virtual African campus to improve access to education
The aim of the Campus for Peace-Africa, the new project from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) Campus for Peace, presented today by Eduard Vinyamata (Director of the UOC Campus for Peace), is to create a virtual African campus and to disseminate programmes through collaborating institutions focusing on peaceful conflict resolution and the eradication of poverty.
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