Training learns to reinvent itself

BarcelonaThe Catalan university system has a very solid offering of master's and postgraduate programs, but the key to its success is its ability to evolve and adapt to the new demands of a constantly evolving market. Programs need to constantly reinvent themselves to respond to the new demands of a constantly changing society. These are some of the most notable developments for the 2025-26 academic year.

The University of Barcelona (UB) offers more than 170 master's degrees and nearly 800 master's and postgraduate programs. Among this year's new offerings, the UB is adding five new programs. The Master's Degree in Cleaning Treatments for Cultural Assets seeks to train specialized conservators who are knowledgeable in cleaning interventions. It provides advanced knowledge of intervention criteria, materials, and pathologies associated with cleaning treatments. The Master's Degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Health Engineering and Biosciences combines scientific, technological, and management knowledge with a practical focus on the creation of disruptive solutions and entrepreneurial projects, responding to the current and future needs of the healthcare sector. The Master's Degree in Research, Nursing Leadership, and Healthcare Management is an evolution of the Master's Degree in Leadership and Management of Nursing Services, which has been offered since 2007, and adapts to the advances of the nursing profession in the current healthcare context.

The Master's Degree in Public Libraries aims to train professionals who can work in public libraries and contribute to their mission as agents of cultural development and lifelong learning for citizens. The Master's Degree in Cancer Research aims to provide advanced training and the appropriate tools to educate future researchers and professionals in cancer research.

The Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), for its part, offers 130 master's degrees that provide advanced training, oriented both toward professional specialization and an introduction to research. Between May 26 and 30, the UAB held a new edition of its virtual fair for master's, postgraduate, and doctoral programs, where it hosted nearly 200 informational sessions designed to continue training, specialize, or redirect professional careers. Its Master's Degree in Educational Policies for Global Development, for example, has received an Erasmus Mundus scholarship for the third time.

The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) is also evolving and will offer five new master's degrees in the 2025-2026 academic year, which will meet the needs of professionals specialized in different fields. The Master's in Water Engineering aims to train professionals with a multidisciplinary profile that will allow them to delve into research, design, and analysis of infrastructure, modeling, and management projects in the fields of hydrotechnology and the environment.

The Master's Degree in Advanced Biomedical Technologies will provide advanced training in the fields of biomedical technologies, shaping a professional profile suitable for integration into various healthcare companies and institutions, as well as into various research centers in the biomedical sector.

Industry 4.0 is the sector focused on by the Master in Artificial Intelligence for Connected Industries. The program aims to train professionals in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science (big data) and telecommunications engineering, to apply them in the transition to a connected industry. Furthermore, the Master's in Architectural Design Ecology in the Digital Age, which will be taught entirely in English, offers advanced training in architectural design from a perspective that integrates urban ecologies, computational technologies, and architectural discourse.

The new Master's Degree in Technologies for Distributed Energy Systems complements previous undergraduate training by converging toward understanding future needs in the field of distributed energy systems, in which decentralized power generation plants with radically different power levels will increasingly play a role.

A range of possibilities

Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) is launching its Master's in Governance. The program, which will be delivered in English, aims to train analysts and researchers in this discipline with sufficient independent work capacity, enabling them to productively apply the latest techniques and methodologies and participate in research teams and study centers.

Promoted by the Chair of Social Economy at TecnoCampus and an official UPF degree, the Master's Degree in Economics and Social Enterprise is the first official master's degree in this field in Catalonia.

In addition, the University of Lleida (UdL) is presenting two new programs. The Master's Degree in Innovative Skin Technology is part of the Erasmus Mundus program, a series of integrated, high-level university-level study programs offered internationally, sponsored by higher education institutions in different countries. The Master's Degree in Research in Nutrition and Personalized Food, which will be coordinated by the Public University of Navarra (UPN), seeks to continue training researchers in the areas of nutrition and food.

The University of Girona (UdG) currently offers around fifty official master's degrees across eight areas of knowledge: molecular biology, biomedicine and health; humanities, heritage, and cultural sciences; law; economics and business; education and psychology; environment and chemistry; technology; and tourism.

One of the new programs to be offered in the 2025-26 academic year is the Master's in Communication and Politics, a program that will train professionals capable of analyzing and proposing political communication campaigns, identifying objectives, strategies, and media.

In addition, the UdG offers two new dual degrees: the dual Master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Data Science and the dual Master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Mechanics of Materials and Structures.

The Rovira i Virgili University (URV), for its part, continues to expand its training offerings related to the ecological transition, complementing its intense research activity in this area. Starting next year, it will offer the Master's Degree in Industrial and Social Decarbonization Management. A pioneer in Spain due to its specific nature, the new master's degree has an interdisciplinary and practical focus and integrates technology, economics, law, and communication, combining the scientific and technological analysis of decarbonization with an economic, legal, and social understanding of the entire process.

The Open University of Catalonia (UOC) will offer the Master's Degree in Political Analysis and Governance and the Master's Degree in International Relations next year. Furthermore, the current master's degrees in Website and Application Development and Occupational Risk Prevention will be offered with a dual specialization; that is, some subjects in these degrees will be acquired in a company in the sector. The new offering will be complemented by the renewal and new artificial intelligence (AI) specialty of the Master's Degree in Digital Health (E-health).

The UOC is also redesigning the Master's Degree in International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, the specialization diploma in Project Management for International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, and the expert diploma in Strategic Management and Logistics in International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action. In addition, the expert diploma in Sports Journalism: Press, Radio, and TV will be launched as part of the Master's Degree in Continuing Education in Communication and Sports Journalism.

A changing context

Ramon Llull University (URL) offers 61 master's degrees. In a global context in which sustainability has become an unavoidable priority, IQS is launching the new Master's in Circular Economy, an innovative program that responds to the growing need to train professionals capable of transforming the current economic model into a more regenerative and efficient one, with optimized raw material management and waste reduction as key elements.

Furthermore, Blanquerna-Ramon Llull University, proud of Nexus, a transversal space for interdisciplinary and interprofessional learning, is promoting a new postgraduate program on Physical Activity and Sports for Young People with Intellectual Disabilities. La Salle-Ramon Llull University, for its part, is promoting the Master's Degree in Philosophy and Contemporary Debates on the Arts and Technology, which invites students to explore philosophy from a contemporary, critical, and interdisciplinary perspective, in constant dialogue with the major challenges and issues that define our time.

The University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia will offer four new master's degrees through Elisava. The Beyond Media Master's program will focus on how content creation, distribution, and consumption has changed dramatically in recent years. The program's goal is to teach students how to create impactful content and generate value in the attention economy.

The Master's Degree in Applied AI for Arts and Design seeks to equip creatives with the ability to leverage AI as a tool for artistic innovation and critical reflection. This practical Master's degree explores the potential of AI to transform art and design, while examining its influence on politics, society, and culture to create meaningful works that look to the future and respond to the complexity of today's world.

The Master's in Design for Digital Experimentation focuses on speculative design, exploring the boundaries of digital design and innovation with an eye toward future needs and internet culture. How can we use playful research to create innovative, socially responsible, and impactful products and services?

The Master in Algorithmic and Networked Photography, which will be taught in English, seeks to redefine the role of photography and examines CGI, AI-generated imagery, screenshots, and in-game photography.

The International University of Catalonia (UIC), for its part, offers more than 70 master's and postgraduate programs. The Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences has launched an innovative Master's in Cooperation, Development, and Social Economy, which will be taught in English. With a practical and innovative approach, this program offers the necessary tools to lead third-sector organizations and develop initiatives with social and economic impact.

In the nursing field, UIC Barcelona has also included the Master's Degree in Continuing Education in Dermoesthetic Nursing, a program that aims to meet the demands of an exponentially growing market. This master's program aims to train nurses through a blended learning approach with a high degree of practical content.

Another newly created master's program at UIC Barcelona is Bioengineering for Human Health, aimed at engineers seeking advanced training at the intersection of engineering and health, in a highly innovative and internationally recognized environment.

Abat Oliba CEU University, which is launching two new degrees in Communication and Digital Content Creation and Nursing, aims to expand its Master's Degree in Continuing Education in Sports Journalism. The content of this program, offered in collaboration with the newspaper Sport, merges an overview of the classic sports information patterns with the new sports narratives that streamers, fans and journalists carry out through online media.