UOC to offer two new bachelor's degrees and a new doctoral programme from next semester

From next autumn, the UOC's range of official programmes will be expanded to include bachelor's degrees in Public Administration and Political Science, and in Sociology, and a doctoral programme in Law, Politics and Economics*. The University will launch specialization programmes in Gender Violence and the Media, and in Ageing, Nutrition and Quality of Life, and courses on Advanced-Level Digital Skills; Precision and Personalized Medicine, and The Culture of Series. It will also be updating its Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management, and its Master's Degree in Social Responsibility.

Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration and Political Science

The UOC will launch its Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration and Political Science in September 2022. It will provide knowledge and tools to understand and analyse the current state of affairs in politics and public administration, and the effects of the modern digital environment on institutions and political processes, focusing on the application of technology in these areas.

Students on the programme can opt to specialize in one of three areas: Political Analysis (with courses on institutions and political agents, and their role in collective decision-making), Public Governance (with courses on the public sector and its management) and Digital Policy (with courses on the effects of the new digital environment on institutions and political processes).

The programme's director is Albert Batlle, a member of the UOC's Faculty of Law and Political Science.

Bachelor's Degree in Sociology

Another new degree that will begin in September is the Bachelor's Degree in Sociology. It focuses on emerging phenomena in the field of sociology, including new, digital society technologies; eco-social transformations; the reformulation of social inequality, and big data analytics. It also covers the knowledge, design, analysis and evaluation of public policies and other mechanisms for social intervention.

In the words of its director, Isaac González, a member of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, "it brings together two facets of sociology: one that leads it to produce a systematically critical, theory-based view of social phenomena, and another that is oriented towards research and applied action, focusing on professional demands to meet people's needs in ways that are contextualized, rigorous, efficient and plausible, be it in the public, private or voluntary sector."

Doctoral programme in Law, Politics and Economics

This doctoral programme aims to train professionals and researchers with a global, interdisciplinary, and critical perspective to work and impact on problems arising in the fields of law, criminology, economics and political science. It will train global citizens, promote interdisciplinarity and knowledge that is open to and for everyone, and create environments that stimulate the co-creation of knowledge with other stakeholders in society so as to increase its impact. The programme's teaching staff also share the transformational goals that are expressed in the sustainable development strategy.

The programme is divided into four areas of research: intangible assets, digital space, and the individual; business and markets; political institutions, governance and participation, and economics and international relations.

Its director is David Martínez, a member of the Faculty of Law and Political Science.

New courses

The University will also be launching the following new UOC-certified courses: a specialization programme in Ageing, Nutrition and Quality of Life; a specialization programme in Gender Violence and the Media; an advanced-level course in Digital Skills (equivalent to the Government of Catalonia's ACTIC certificate); a course on Precision and Personalized Medicine, and a course on The Culture of Series.

The Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management and the Master's Degree in Social Responsibility updated for the coming academic year

Likewise, the Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management, and the Master's Degree in Corporate Social Responsibility will be updated; the latter will become the Master's Degree in Sustainability and Social Responsibility Management.

Other programmes launched this year

The UOC launched three bachelor's degrees, two master's degrees and a doctoral programme this year. The bachelor's degrees are in Primary Education, Software Development (entirely in English) and Digital Interaction and Multimedia Techniques, and the master's degrees are in Planetary Health (UOC, UPF) and History of the Contemporary World. Finally, the doctoral programme in Society, Technology and Culture is also a new addition this year.

* Pending validation from the Spanish Registry of Universities, Centres and Degrees (RUCT)