Academic year opening ceremony

Presided over by the rector, Dr Xavier Gil, the event began with an academic procession of those holding PhDs.  Academic dignitaries, businesspeople, the rector of the University of Andorra, Dr Miquel Nicolau, and the rector of the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Dr Jordi Montaña were all in attendance.
After this, the general secretary, Ms Belén Castro, on behalf of the Board of Governors, thanked Mr Josep Maria Pujol for his work as the president of the Board of Trustees from 1988 onwards, and also provided an overview of the history of the university over the past 19 years.  Finally, the rector awarded Mr Pujol with a university medal.
After the homage, there was discussion of the milestones attained during the previous academic year.  The speech by Belén Castro was accompanied by a video which summarised all the main activities, prizes and projects that were undertaken at the university over the past year.  
The inaugural speech was given by Jordi Canals, president of the IESE International Foundation and general director of IESE from 2001 to 2016. Throughout his speech, Canals talked about the company’s board, and underlined the importance of humanism in the company and placing people at the heart of everything.  The invited speaker also talked about the difference between companies and businesses, between government and management.  In his speech, Canals underlined the importance of values such as trust, using the current situation in various national and international companies as an example.
On the other hand, the executive director of the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR), Mr Josep Maria Pujol, underlined some of the results obtained at a teaching and research level at UIC Barcelona and talked about the Catalan university system’s working plan for the area of research.
Finally, the rector closed the session with a speech in which he highlighted the positive results from the previous year at the university and presented the main objectives for the academic year that is just beginning. 
The event ended with attendees singing our traditional university song "Gaudeamus Igitur”.