Panoramic view

The University of Asturias

The University of Oviedo is the public institution of higher education and research of the Principality of Asturias. With more than 410 years of history, it has a complete range of degrees adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in all branches of knowledge, bilingual itineraries, double degrees with international universities and Erasmus Mundus and interuniversity master's degrees and in collaboration with more than 250 companies. This training offer is complemented by a complete program of own degrees and classrooms and courses of University Extension.

International vocation

The University of Oviedo has, since its inception, a clear international vocation. This commitment to the global bore fruit in November 2009 when it became one of the first Spanish higher education academic institutions to achieve the accreditation of Campus of International Excellence (CEI). The CEI Asturias-Ad Futurum project, which brings together more than 300 institutions, companies and technology centres, has consolidated its seal of excellence and its objectives with the implementation of the 2018-2022 strategic plan.

The main areas of knowledge in which students of the University of Oviedo study are the following:

• Arts and Humanities.
• Sciences.
• Health Sciences.
• Social and Legal Sciences.
• Engineering and Architecture.

The institution, in figures

Some figures help to better understand the broad potential of the University of Oviedo:

• 60 degrees (3 doubles and 19 bilingual).
• 60 university master's degrees.
• 5 Erasmus master's degrees Mundus.
• 25 doctoral programmes.
• 63 own degrees.
• 17 faculties and schools.
• 38 departments.
• 21,000 students.
  • More than 17,000 Bachelor's degree.
  • More than 1,900 Master's degree.
  • More than 1,600 PhD workers.
• 2,100 researchers and teachers.
• 1,000 administration and service workers,

Seven campuses in three cities

Teaching is concentrated in seven campuses distributed in the central axis of Asturias: Oviedo (El Cristo, El Milán, Llamaquique, Catalanes and Oviedo-Centro), Gijón and Mieres. The university also has an attractive offer of university services in Avilés. In 2010, an ambitious plan for the reorganization of centres was carried out, which has been set as an example of good practice for Spanish universities. Teaching is provided in 17 faculties and schools and two affiliated centres. In addition, the University of Oviedo has an International Postgraduate Centre (CIP) and a Doctoral School that coordinate master's and doctoral studies. The management of these postgraduate courses has been decentralized to facilitate closer attention to the student body.

The academic institution has complete sports facilities with free access for the university community and modern accommodation for students, teachers and administrative and service staff. It offers a wide range of language courses, through La Casa de la Lenguas, student guidance services, attention to people with special needs and advice on job search.

Motor of regional research

The University of Oviedo is the main engine of research in Asturias. It develops 80% of the R + D + i of the autonomous community and has cutting-edge services and equipment to facilitate the transfer of knowledge to the productive fabric. The income derived from scientific production is estimated at about 40 million euros per year and has more than 500 contracts and / or agreements with companies to develop research projects and knowledge transfer.

The Asturian university institution also leads two clusters specialized in Energy, Environment and Climate Change, and in Biomedicine and Health, which are intimately connected with the regional technology parks and the Asturian public health network. A third cluster, focused on the Social Sciences and Humanities, aims to boost the important research carried out in these areas traditionally with less public visibility and thus allows to overcome the concept of research of coat white.

About 2,000 people are dedicated to research at the University of Oviedo and work in 173 accredited groups. The recognized research groups are constantly growing and have gone from 21 in 2010 to 173 the current year.

The University of Oviedo also has specific research support structures. They are institutes and centers of very varied themes ranging from space technologies to neurosciences through biotechnology or oncology. These institutes allow the sharing of resources and equipment by the research staff.

The academic institution, aware that one of its best business cards are its researchers, has its own aid plan that opens the way to young people and endorses the most talented emerging initiatives. In addition, the program promotes the internationalization of research done in Asturias and deals with trying to attract the most talented scientists outside our borders. The quality of the research carried out at the university has received the endorsements of the regional, state and European administrations.

In order to attract vocations among the youngest, the university has a Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit that develops an extensive program of dissemination and scientific culture for students of pre-university education and the general public. Among other initiatives, the UCC+i has launched and consolidated activities such as the Science and Technology Week, the European Researchers' Night, the Summer Scientific Campuses or On Tour with Science, where scientific dissemination talks are given in educational centers, hospital classrooms or cultural associations.

An institution committed to the environment

The University of Oviedo was a pioneer in Spain, at the end of the nineteenth century, in tearing down academic walls to bring education and culture to all social classes. The result of this effort is the area of University Extension and Cultural Projection. The Asturian institution organizes every year more than 170 cultural activities that include performing arts, concerts, conferences, competitions and awards, teaching rooms, exhibitions, conferences, round tables or book presentations. The Historic Building, located in the center of Oviedo/Uviéu, is the cultural center par excellence, although not the only one, where the main academic and cultural events open to Asturian society take place. The University Extension programs are deployed throughout the geography of the Principality of Asturias, always responding to the commitment of the academic institution with the environment.

The university also has a specific program, not regulated, for older people who want to continue training. Nearly 5000 students have passed through the classrooms of the University Program for Older Adults of the University of Oviedo, better known as PUMUO, only during the last decade. This initiative began in Oviedo, in the 2001-2002 academic year, with the purpose, closely linked to the very raison d'être of the University Extension, to favor the training of people over 50 years of age who, on many occasions and due to various circumstances, could not attend university.  Since its creation in the 2001-2002 academic year, nearly 400 professors have taught.

The initiative, which began in Oviedo, has been adding venues and adapting its contents to social demand. Thus, initially two years of training were proposed, which, already in 2003, were extended to three years and, currently, to five. Participants in PUMUO can receive classes, in addition to the headquarters of the university in Oviedo, in Avilés, since the 2004-2005 academic year; in Gijón, from 2011-2012; in Mieres, from 2018-2019, and in Luarca, from 2020/2021

Public-private collaboration for the benefit of society

It is part of the DNA of the University of Oviedo that what is done within the walls of the institution breaks the walls of the institution and supposes in practice a benefit for the whole community in terms of knowledge transfer, economic boost, creation of quality employment and improvement of competitiveness in an increasingly glocal. 

Precisely for this reason, the University of Oviedo works synergistically with the most outstanding companies and institutions in the region or the country. The result of this work are the 35 chairs that operate at the university. These chairs involve large companies such as Arcelor-Mittal, Accenture, Merkel or Thyssenkrupp, but also address issues of interest to ecology or culture such as the Smart Cities or Leonard Cohen chairs.

The University of Oviedo is an institution firmly committed to the objectives and goals of Sustainable Development established by the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.

Within the framework of institutional social responsibility, the Asturian university also has services for the care and support of people with specific needs and a solidarity space where to develop volunteer actions and international cooperation. The Equality Unit also ensures compliance with gender equality and family reconciliation policies.