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The Catalan Minister for Territory, Ester Capella, and the Rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia. Photo / UB.
 22.04.2024

The University of Barcelona and the Government of Catalonia sign an agreement to promote the MIES-UB project

The Rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, and the Catalan Minister for Territory, Ester Capella, today signed a collaboration agreement for the construction of two new buildings on the Diagonal Campus for research and talent in the fields of mathematics, computer science, economics and business, and health (MIES). This initiative contemplates the expansion of the facilities of the Barcelona Science Park to respond to the high demand for spaces that the Park receives.

The MIES-UB foresees the expansion of the Barcelona Science Park with an extension of a new building, dedicated entirely to research activities in the field of health, with the new headquarters of the Fraunhofer and Bioengineering Institutes of Catalonia (IBEC) and spaces for university research groups. It will also reinforce the areas linked to mathematics, computer science and economics with the construction of another building that will house the new Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. Also, it will be able to dedicate space to research activities linked to these disciplines.

The MIES-UB project will therefore involve the construction of 24,000 m² to house more than 700 researchers and 45 research groups in the fields of mathematics, computer science, economics and health.

The two new buildings will be located in two different sites:

– The first will house the new headquarters of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, which will move from the Historic Building to the Diagonal Campus, and various economics research groups of the Faculty of Economics and Business. It will be located between Carrer Joan Obiols and Carrer John M. Keynes.

– The second will be the extension of the Barcelona Science Park, with a building that will house the headquarters of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), the Fraunhofer Institute in Catalonia, and other university research groups in the field of health sciences. It will be located in the South Campus block, between Carrer Llorenç Artigas, Carrer Pascual i Vila, Carrer Baldiri i Reixac and Carrer Adolf Florensa.

The Rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, said that “today is a great day for the University of Barcelona, which is embarking on an exciting and stimulating journey”. “We are facing a national mission: we are going to set up a web of research infrastructures that will require resources and that will make us competitive and powerful,” said Guàrdia. The rector, who thanked the UB management team, Incasòl and the Government for their collaborative work to make the project a reality, highlighted “the powerful health ecosystem that will be generated in the area thanks to the triangle formed by the Hospital Clínic, the Hospital de Bellvitge and the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, which will become a point of reference at European level”.

The Catalan Minister for Territorial Planning, Ester Capella, expressed her satisfaction with the agreement, “which will allow the Diagonal Campus to be strengthened as a knowledge hub in the fields of mathematics, computer science, economics and health”. “Incasòl promotes urban sectors, constructs buildings, drives economic activity and, as can be seen today, is also useful for science, innovation and talent”, remarked Capella. “The government is committed to the development of the Knowledge Pact, and we are promoting the shared strategy of the research, higher education and productive economy sectors to build the Catalonia of the future,” she concluded.

The reorganisation of the spaces in the southern part of the Diagonal Campus will help to position it as the most powerful international reference campus in southern Europe. At the same time, the construction of the new health sciences building will reinforce the health area of the university’s Diagonal area, with the future link to the new Hospital Clínic, which will be located in the current UB Sports facilities, very close to this area.

The collaboration agreement signed today between the UB and Incasòl  is a necessary step to launch the project. The UB will promote the necessary urban planning procedures and the Government of Catalonia will be responsible for the construction of the new buildings through Incasòl, which will previously organise the corresponding architectural competition for their design. The construction of both buildings is expected to be completed in 2028.

The agreement also foresees that the UB constitutes a surface right of two plots in favour of the Incasòl, which will be the public company in charge of constructing the new buildings.