03 February 2022
San Sebastian Campus
The University of Deusto resumes classes for the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year next Tuesday, 8 February. On this day, nearly 500 new undergraduate and postgraduate students from more than 50 countries will also begin their international experience in Bilbao and San Sebastian. Of these, 393 will do so on the Bilbao campus (333 on campus and 60 through the International Virtual Campus) and 108 on the San Sebastian campus. The academic centre held a welcome ceremony for all of them on Thursday, 3 February.
The Bilbao event was attended by the Director General of Culture of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia Begoña de Ibarra, the First Deputy Mayor Amaia Arregi, the Vice-Rector for University Community and Agenda 2030 Juanjo Etxeberria and the Vice-Rector for International Relations and Digital Transformation, Alex Rayón. The meeting was also attended by the general and honorary consuls based in Bilbao. This session will be completed with another online session on Friday 4 February at 13:00.
The welcome ceremony in Donostia was attended by Eneko Goia, Mayor of San Sebastian, Isaac Palencia, Director of Youth of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Alex Rayón, Vice-Rector for International Relations of the University of Deusto, and Xabier Riezu, Vice-Rector of the San Sebastian campus of the University of Deusto. On Friday 4 February, students will have the opportunity to get to know the different university services and visit the city of San Sebastian.
Likewise, during these days, presentations are being given on each of the degrees (objectives, methodology, competences...) and services offered by the University (Language Centre, Student Services, Deusto Campus), as well as getting to know the campus facilities through guided tours.
The new international students belong to different exchange programmes and come from the following countries: India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
International Virtual Campus
Of the on-site exchange students, more than 60 students will also take one of the 12 cross-disciplinary and multicultural subjects offered in hybrid format on the International Virtual Campus. This pioneering campus is a digital space designed so that students from all over the world can have an international experience at Deusto that allows them to experience life on the two campuses (Bilbao and Donostia) and day-to-day university life. This formula, which this year marks its fourth edition, generates greater social inclusivity, which will form part of the new university normality in the future.
Alex Rayón, Vice Rector for International Relations and Digital Transformation of the University of Deusto, in his welcoming remarks, expressed his gratitude to the students for having chosen the University of Deusto among so many possibilities. "In a world in which international mobility is constantly growing, and so are the options for study, the fact that every year more and more students choose Deusto as an option encourages us to continue working on our internationalisation process".
Deusto, as a university of the Society of Jesus, stands out for its emphasis on the integral part of the development of the person. The aim of this University is to ensure that its education stands out not only for its technical quality, but also for its humanistic dimension, training in values and sense of justice. Proof of this is that Times Higher Education has recognised Deusto's work on several occasions as the first Spanish university to promote Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the United Nations: promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies.
In this regard, Rayón highlighted the role of the International Virtual Campus, which in this fifth edition once again has students from very diverse backgrounds who, thanks to the digital transformation of our university, can also access a campus and its academic, social, solidarity, cultural and sporting activities, in which she encouraged them to participate in order to share their experiences, values and projects with other national and international students.
