Barcelona, with more than 500 years of university history, attracts students from all over the world. The city offers first-class undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. It also has renowned business schools that attract talent, whose aims are to stimulate the creation of quality jobs with added value and foster entrepreneurship.
A commitment to health and science
The Barcelona area has an extensive network of university hospitals that includes the Hospital Clínic, Hospital de Bellvitge, Hospital de la Vall d’Hebron, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Hospital de Sant Joan de Déu, Hospital del Mar and Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, enabling it to offer the public a quality, specialised medical and care service.
Moreover, Catalonia is home to 22% of the biotechnology companies in Spain and 45% of the pharmaceutical companies, led by the biggest in the sector, all of which are Catalan: Almirall, Esteve, Ferrer, Grífols, Lacer and Uriach. Catalonia is also the base for 40% of the medical technology companies in Spain, which account for 50% of total turnover in the sector.
According to the Biocat report for 2012, in the last five years, more than 450 Catalan companies (biotechnological, pharmaceutical, innovative medical technology and sector service companies) have registered a growth rate of between 15 and 30%. Clear evidence of the sector's potential in the current context of economic recession. Catalonia has the most dynamic biocluster in Spain, and one of the most active in this field in southern Europe.
In addition to that, Barcelona and its surrounding area has three of Europe's benchmark infrastructures: the Mare Nostrum supercomputer (Barcelona Supercomputing Center, BSC), the National Centre for Genomic Analysis (CNAG) and the Alba-Cells synchrotron. All three are pioneering projects promoting the city on an international scale.