The University of Alicante ( ca-valencia, Universitat d'Alacant, italic=no, ; es, Universidad de Alicante, italic=no, ; also known by the acronym ''UA'') was established in 1979 on the basis of the Center for University Studies (CEU), which was founded in 1968. The university main campus is located in

San Vicente del Raspeig/Sant Vicent del Raspeig San Vicente del Raspeig ( Spanish) or Sant Vicent del Raspeig (Valencian), or simply San Vicente / Sant Vicent, is a municipality located in the ''comarca'' of Alacantí, in the province of Alicante, Spain, inside the conurbation of Alicante cit ...

, bordering the city of

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in the ...

to the north. As of 2011/12 academic year, there are approximately 27,500 students studying there.

History

The university inherits the legacy of the University of Orihuela that was established by Papal Bull in 1545 and remained open for two centuries (1610-1808).

Studies

The University of Alicante offers courses in more than fifty degrees. It comprises over seventy departments and research groups in areas of

Social Science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

and

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

Experimental science An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

, Technology,

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. V ...

and

Health Science The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple aca ...

s, and five research institutes. Almost all classes are taught in

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

, some are in English, in particular, in computer science and in business degrees, and a few are in

Valencian language Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Cata ...

courses are offered for foreign students throughout the year and during the summer. The university offers English Language versions to PhD level including religion. Julian Havell was the first to graduate from this scheme. The Department of Economics runs, in Europe, a well-known Graduate Program in Economics which is an American-style full-time program taught entirely in English. The program provides students with a thorough theoretical and practical training in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, as well as specialization in applied fields. The aim of the program is to prepare students for professional careers in universities, public and private research organizations, international institutions, consultancy and business.

Campus

The university has a modern campus of one square kilometer. La Rabassa airfield was located on these lands until the opening of El Altet Airport in 1967. University of Alicante is part of several networks:

European University Association The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 institutions of higher education in 48 countries, providing them with a forum for cooperation and exchange of information on higher education and research policies. Members of th ...

, Compostela Group of Universities (Spanish: ) and Catalan-speaking network Xarxa Vives d'Universitats. The university hosts

Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library (MCVL; in es, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, BVMC) is a large-scale digital library project, hosted and maintained by the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain. It comprises the largest open-ac ...

. It is the largest

open-access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre o ...

repository of digitised

Spanish-language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

historical texts and literature from the

Ibero-American Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former territories of Portugal or Spain). ...

world. Apertium, a

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

for

machine translation Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT (not to be confused with computer-aided translation, machine-aided human translation or interactive translation), is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates th ...

, is being developed at the university in cooperation with Spanish and Catalan governments. The software is distributed under

GNU GPL The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...

license. Image:Campus università di Alicante.jpg, ''Drawing Space'' sculpture by Pepe Díaz Azorín Image:UA-Aulario2.jpg,

Amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

of ''Aulario General II'' Image:UA-Eps.jpg,

Sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

next to the building of Polytechnic School Image:UniversityAlicanteCampus BibliotecaGeneral.JPG, University library

References

External links

University website (English, Spanish, Valencian)Cicerone UA - Virtual visit to the campus of the University of AlicanteBiblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
{{coord, 38, 23, 4.7, N, 0, 30, 47.33, W, type:edu, display=title Educational institutions established in 1979 1979 establishments in Spain Universities and colleges in Spain