EXCHANGE INFORMATION
Here you will find the most important information about your exchange and the services that the University of Barcelona offers to international exchange students. We hope you have a pleasant stay at our institution!
Accommodation and more
The University of Barcelona is highly interested in the well being of international students and for that purpose has established agreements with a wide range of organizations which offer accommodation such as a wide range of halls of residences or the BCU (Barcelona University Center). These centers provide students with diverse accommodation options especially oriented towards them for the temporary periods in which they are studying or participating in research programs at our institution.
For more information, please check the links below:
BCU (Barcelona Centre Universitari) is an organization whose aim is that of facilitating all aspects of the non-academic life of the foreign university community. BCU was set up in 1997 to support, coordinate and direct all activities considered necessary in order to promote Barcelona and its metropolitan area as an international university centre. BCU is a consortium who works with the Government of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation and the universities located in Barcelona: UB, UAB, UPC, UPF, URL, UIC, UAO and the University of Vic. BCU helps students to find the most appropriate accommodation according to their needs thanks to its wide net of contacts with different kind of accommodation facilities (residences, private apartments, etc). Moreover, it also offers other addicional services, such as airport pickup or legal advice. Find all the information on the following links:
Check-in and insurance information
Registration process/arrival check in at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona:
Once you have completed the application process and have been accepted as a temporary student at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Barcelona, you must formalize your arrival by completing the check-in process, on the dates indicated for this purpose and before the start of classes. To complete the check-in is essential in order to be able to take courses at the Faculty.
All updated information on the check-in is sent each year to accepted international exchange students. It is sent out approximately in July to first semester and annual students and in December to second semester students.
Compulsory registration at the Central Registry Office for Foreigners
Consult the information on the registration of foreign students who are staying in our country. Depending on the duration of your stay and the regulations in force, you may also have to register at the Central Registry Office for Foreigners. You can find all the necessary information at the following link: Formalising your stay in our country
All international mobility students must have compulsory insurance (public or private) for medical assistance, accident and repatriation valid for the whole period of their stay in the host institution and country, either provided by their home university or because they are entitled to these coverages by other means.
All updated information on the compulsory insurances is sent to accepted international exchange students every year. It is sent out approximately in July to first semester and annual students and in December to second semester students.
Enrolment to courses
The students will have to do their final enrollment during the month of July (first semester and annual students) and during the month of January (second semester students). It will be an online registration. They will receive an email with all the instructions to complete successfully the process. This will be the final enrolment to courses and therefore it is very important to check the courses schedules and the language of instruction of each course to make sure there are no incompatibilities. Students must also take into account that the courses offered at our Faculty allow only a limited number of students and we can not ensure the enrolment in a particular course.
Catalan and Spanish language courses
The UB’s Language Services offers visiting and non-Catalan-speaking students a wide range of opportunities to learn Catalan, including Catalan courses for beginners or a range of cultural activities designed to help you practise your language skills, meet new people and get to know more about Catalan culture and society: language exchanges, conversation groups, guided visits, etc.
This is a particularly effective way to become involved in the University’s academic, social and cultural life; and of course it also makes it easier for students to get to know other students!
Catalan, like Spanish, is a Roman language. Given the close proximity between languages in this group, students which have previously learned one are well equipped to take on another. Catalan has more than 9 million speakers across the world and is ranked as the 88th most spoken language in the world; being spoken by more people than Swedish or Danish. Moreover, the Catalan literary tradition dates from the medieval ages and its quality and high relevance have been greatly appreciated across the world.
We invite you to discover more about Catalan and about the services offered by Serveis Lingüístics, in the following link:
Estudios Hispánicos department of the University of Barcelona has a long tradition in the teaching of the Spanish language and culture to foreigners. For the last 60 years, thousands of students, from universities in over 200 different countries, have passed through its classrooms.
Europe is a multilingual continent; our planet is a multilingual world, Barcelona is a cheerfully bilingual city. Our city and university are firmly committed to multilingualism and Estudios Hispánicos forms part of this project. We believe that learning languages is an essential way of learning about other cultures, and that familiarity with other cultures can only help to foster an atmosphere of tolerance and harmony between our respective communities.
Estudios Hispánicos is the Centre at the University of Barcelona which offers courses of Spanish as a foreign language. Our offer consists of both, Spanish language and culture courses.
Estudios Hispánicos is also the unit responsible for organizing and teaching Spanish as an instrumental language to the students of the University of Barcelona taking part in Erasmus Programme.
These courses are especially designed for European university students, in such a way that during sessions they only work with specific materials elaborated for their concrete needs, in order to develop their discursive skills which are required so as to carry on with their studies at the University of Barcelona, or any other Spanish university or Spanish-speaking university.
These courses are taught three times a year. They amount for 40 hours and are organized in two levels of language knowledge: basic/intermediate and intermediate/advanced.
For more information regarding the Spanish courses offered by Estudios Hispánicos please consult the following page:
UB sport facilities and services
The mission of UB Sports consists on offering quality sport facilities and services, health and leisure to all the members of the Barcelona Knowledge Campus and to the community in general. The main objective of the UB Sports Service is to contribute and improve people’s health, interpersonal relations and quality of life.
The facilities of which the UB Sport Services offer more than 100.000 square meters of sport equipment, divided into different sports and activities designed to improve the life of the university’s community. Within the above mentioned facilities, students can find 4 paddle courts, 6 tennis courts, Outdoor/Indoor pool, 2 rooms for classes and courses, a Fitness room, a Rugby field, 2 five-a-side football pitches with artificial grass, Athletics track, “Pelota” court, 2 football fields (natural and artificial grass), Outdoor basketball court, Field for discus and shot put, Archery field, etc.
Students can also receive ECTS credtis for their sports activities, provided that their home university recognizes them.
Members of UB Sports Service are entitled to use all the services during the current academic year. The Sports Centre caters for the whole university community, including students on exchange programs and students from other universities staying temporarily at the UB. For more information regarding the UB Sports Service please consult the following link:
