The Faculty of Science creates an academic intensification programme for gifted students

Students interested in this programme must apply for admission at the dean's office of the faculty and, once admitted, will have a tutor who will help them to create their itinerary and evaluate their progress. This is a pioneering initiative that, if successful, could be extended to the rest of UAB teaching centres.

The Faculty of Science has decided to start this programme because it occasionally detects cases of students already familiar with the contents of the subjects of the degree, who are exceptionally talented and may suffer from demotivation. With the new programme, which the Faculty Board approved at its meeting yesterday afternoon, the aim is to establish a personalised accompaniment for these students in order to help them make the most of their potential.

On the one hand, the programme will offer personalised tutoring: a member of the faculty will monitor each student and attend to his or her specific needs, inform the degree coordinator, evaluate his or her progress and determine his or her continuity in the programme. On the other hand, it will facilitate the acceleration of students' academic progress: they will be allowed, exceptionally, to take up to 120 credits per year (conventionally, one year is equivalent to 60 ECTS credits), which would allow them to complete their degree studies in two years. There also will be the possibility for students to begin part of their graduate studies in the last year of their degree.

As for extracurricular activities, sessions or seminars will be held on advanced aspects that complement the contents of the degree courses. In addition, the internationalisation of students will be encouraged by offering them the opportunity to stay in foreign universities through UAB exchange programmes. The programme also contemplates the possibility for students, if their tutor considers it appropriate, to enter into contact with research groups to initiate research activity.

The programme also proposes the incorporation of pre-university students. The faculty will facilitate that they can take certain subjects in accordance with Resolution ENS/1543/2013, of the Ministry for Education of the Government of Catalonia, which establishes “exceptional measures in order that certain contents of university studies can be taken, with its consequent recognition in the evaluation of the corresponding subject of upper secondary school”.

Applications must be addressed to the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Science and will be evaluated by a committee made up of three lecturers, who will analyse the candidate's trajectory and the documentation provided, summon them to an interview and, if appropriate, will also request that they take a written test. Accepted students must submit, at the end of each term, a compilation of the activities carried out for evaluation by their tutor. Students may be excluded from the programme in the event of a negative report from the tutor, work overload resulting in poor performance or failure in any subject. The support of the UAB's Equality and Diversity Service will also be present as part of the programme.

The UAB Faculty of Science currently offers bachelor's degrees in Environmental Sciences, Applied Statistics, Physics, Geology, Computational Mathematics and Data Analytics, Mathematics, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and Chemistry. It also offers double degrees in Environmental Sciences and Geology, Applied Statistics and Sociology, Physics and Mathematics, and Physics and Chemistry, and, together with other institutions in Madrid, offers an inter-university degree in Science. As for graduate studies, the Faculty of Science offers seventeen official master's degrees and eight PhD programmes.