A new academic year begins for UB-ISGlobal postgraduate programmes

The University of Barcelona (UB)-ISGlobal postgraduate programmes have welcomed 49 new students from 19 countries as the 2026-27 academic year gets underway. The new students join a learning community that brings together different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives around a shared interest in global health.

This year, students are enrolled in four programmes: the Master of Global Health, with 21 students; the Diploma of Global Health Fundamentals, with three students; the tropEd Master of Global Health, with nine students; and the Global Health track of the Master in Applied Clinical Research, with 16 students.

“Global health education is not only about acquiring knowledge, but also about learning from different perspectives and experiences. Bringing together students and professionals from different backgrounds is an important part of that learning process,” states Nuria Casamitjana, Director of Education and Training at ISGlobal and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Barcelona (UB).

Starting the academic year together

The new academic year began on 14 September with a welcome and orientation session at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the UB, at Campus Clínic.

The session introduced students to the academic and practical aspects of their programmes and gave them the opportunity to meet their classmates, teaching teams and programme coordinators. Students were welcomed by the Master of Global Health co-Directors Núria Casamitjana, Quique Bassat and Raquel González, alongside faculty coordinators from the different programmes. 

The orientation also included an interactive seminar on “Epistemic Injustice in Global Health”, led by Dr Dewi Ismajani Puradiredja from the Bernard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine. 

An inaugural lecture on maternal and child health

The start of the academic year continued on 2 October with the inaugural lecture for the master’s programmes. This year’s guest speaker was Dr Florence Bodeau-Livinec, Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique (EHESP), who addressed the links between environmental exposures and maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa. Her presentation brought together students from the master’s programmes and members of the wider ISGlobal community to explore how environmental and social factors shape health in the region.

The welcome activities and inaugural lecture mark the beginning of another academic year of teaching, discussion and exchange across the UB-ISGlobal postgraduate programmes.