In accordance with the guidelines laid down by the public health and university authorities, which ESCI-UPF will comply with in full, we would like to inform our educational community as a whole and new and existing students in particular of the steps we are taking at the start of this academic year (further details are available on the Covid-19 webpage on the university website).

• Rooms and materials will be thoroughly cleaned and hand sanitiser points set up throughout the building.

• Everyone at the university must keep a safe distance from everyone else both inside and outside classrooms.

• Face coverings must be worn at all times.

These undeniably inconvenient measures are nonetheless highly effective and easy to follow. Every single one of us needs to make sure that we follow these mandatory measures at all times. We are counting on your individual and collective sense of responsibility to minimise the risk of infection and to help us deliver education to our usual standards of excellence and as normally as possible.

By taking these new steps and optimising use of different rooms in the ESCI-UPF building, including making more intensive use of the Function Room, during this first term we will be able to offer in-person classes for all Year One and Year Two classes for both bachelor’s degree courses and for most of the elective subjects in Year Three and Year Four, provided the current public health and hygiene guidelines remain unchanged.

If circumstances remain unchanged, we hope to be able to run a similar system in the second and third terms. Things won’t be quite the same, given the different mix of required and elective subjects. We will keep you informed.

All students are required to attend classes. Any students who are unable to attend class should inform their tutor immediately and will be required to justify their absence. ESCI-UPF has drawn up a specific attention plan for any students or teaching staff who are required to self-isolate.

Building on the experience of the public health crisis last term, ESCI-UPF has drawn up plans that will enable it to react quickly to a range of possible scenarios, including greater restrictions on in-person classes if the public health situation should worsen or increased in-person classes as and when the public health and university authorities deem it safe and appropriate to do so.

ESCI-UPF Directors and Managers
Barcelona, 4 September 2020 2020