Celebration of the Welcome Ceremony for the 2025-2026 academic year

The Welcome Ceremony is the event organised by the Doctoral School to welcome the university community linked to doctoral studies at the beginning of each academic year. Before the start of this event, it is preceded by the Welcome and training session for new PhD Students, in which the units providing services and cross-disciplinary training to doctoral candidates are introduced.

This event was also the backdrop for the 2025 Extraordinary Doctoral Awards, which recognize the best doctoral theses defended in the 2022-2023 academic year: a total of 31 doctors have received this recognition.

Part 1 — Welcome and training session for new PhD Students

The session began at 9:45 a.m. with the welcome by Dr Cristina Canal, Director of the Doctoral School, who presented the programme and encouraged the new students to make the most of the resources and services offered by the university.

In the block devoted to Cross-disciplinary Training, Dr Antoni Pérez, Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE-UPC), presented the MentorFirst Programme, an initiative aimed at supporting doctoral candidates in their first steps within the university and research environment.

Next, various heads of UPC services and units presented the training, cultural and support opportunities available to predoctoral research staff:

• Carme Fenoll Clarabuch, Director of the Culture and Community Area, highlighted the cultural and university engagement initiatives.
• Jordi Pujol, from the Language and Terminology Service, explained the language programmes and multilingual support resources.
• Berenice Martín, from the International Relations Office, presented the opportunities for international mobility and agreements with other institutions.
• Dr Anna Rovira, from the Libraries, Publications and Archives Service, showcased the bibliographic resources and research support tools.
• Ximena Alejandra Silva Osorio, from the Innovation Management Service, outlined the knowledge transfer and innovation programmes.
• Finally, David Rovira, President of the Doctoral Student Council, shared his experience and the different ways to engage in doctoral activities.

The session concluded with the participation of Dr Lluís Jofre Cruanyes, Deputy Director of the Doctoral School, who delivered the talk “The PhD Studies”, offering an overview of the doctoral process and its academic and personal challenges.

Before closing this first part, Dr Cristina Canal invited attendees to participate in a collaborative activity in which some doctoral candidates won a UPC – Doctoral Studies T-shirt.

Part 2 — Welcome Ceremony and presentation of the 2025 Extraordinary Doctoral Awards

The institutional ceremony began at 12:00 p.m. with a performance of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” by the Cor Ol·lari, adding a festive and symbolic tone to the start of the event.

Dr Cristina Canal officially welcomed the 2025-2026 academic year and presented the institutional video “The UPC Today – Academic Year 2024/25”, which reviewed the main events and achievements of the previous year.

This was followed by the inaugural lecture, delivered by Dr Maria Pau Ginebra, Full Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Group, titled “The PhD as a Journey to the Limits of Knowledge”, in which she reflected on the intellectual and personal adventure of the doctoral journey.

Dr Jordi Pons Prats, Academic Secretary of the Doctoral School, then led the presentation of the 2025 Extraordinary Doctorate Awards, which recognise the excellence of the theses defended at the UPC during the last academic year. Awardees received their diplomas from the Rector, followed by a group photo.

Representing the awardees, Dr Mattia Barbero delivered the speech “PhD – not necessarily a lonely journey”, reflecting on the importance of collaboration and the scientific community throughout the doctoral stage.

After Dr Cristina Canal congratulated the awardees, the UPC Rector, Dr Francesc Torres Torres, closed the ceremony with a speech highlighting the university’s commitment to excellent research and the training of new scientific leaders.

The event concluded with the performance of “Gaudeamus” by the Cor Ol·lari, the traditional academic anthem that brought the ceremony to a close before the reception in the auditorium foyer.