UGR International Strategy

How do we understand internationalization?

The UGR considers internationalization of all its activities to be a policy priority. The International Strategy includes a collective and institutional reflection on the rationale behind and objectives of our international activity. The Strategy reflects our deep institutional commitment to the pursuit of solutions to the major global societal challenges, to progress towards the achievement of the United Nations sustainable development goals, in the context of a globalized economy, of our increasingly multicultural society and recognizing the centrality of knowledge as a driver of solutions.

The UGR adopts the definition of internationalization drawn up by Hans de Wit, Eva Egron-Polak, Laura Howard and Fiona Hunter (2015): “[…] the intentional process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions and delivery of post-secondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education and research for all students and staff, and to make a meaningful contribution to society.”

The internationalization of higher education is thus not an end in itself, but rather a means to achieving our ends: preparing our students to work in a globalized environment, both local and international, as well as preparing them to act as critical, ethical and responsible individuals and social actors in a complex world; excellence in research outcomes, ensuring their social impact; enhancing the visibility and prestige of the UGR and promoting our essential values.

UGR International Strategy Leaflet (in pdf.)

Where did we start from?

The UGR has an extensive and successful international experience. We are well placed in the international rankings and actively participate in research and knowledge transfer projects and international publications. For years, the UGR has been at the forefront in Europe in terms of mobility for students and staff, based on a wide offer of international mobility opportunities in all five continents, including some twenty joint, double and multiple degree programmes. We have an extensive network of bilateral and multilateral partnerships. We play a leading role in several important international university networks and enjoy a high level of success and participation in international academic cooperation projects. The UGR is the leading Spanish university in Official Development Aid (data from 2015). We manage a dozen Spanish language and culture centres at partner universities around the world, while our International Welcome Centre hosts services for incoming researchers and our world-renowned Modern Languages Centre (CLM) has a wide variety of courses in Spanish language and culture, alongside courses in other languages.

What model have we chosen?    

The UGR continues to opt for a cooperative approach to internationalization, whose objective is to improve the quality of teaching, research and services in a global environment. Our mission attends both our immediate environment (mainly through the education of our youth) and global human progress and sustainable development (excellence in research and capacity- building). Therefore, in our model, cooperation takes precedence over competence, is based on the pursuit of quality and, given the size and the past experience of the university, includes all regions of the world, each of them with a specific adapted approach to partnership.

We understand internationalization is a participative (bottom-up) process involving all those who contribute to the international dimension of the UGR. The Strategy, which was conceived and designed collectively and dynamically, requires constant dialogue within the University and with our partners to integrate international, intercultural and global dimensions into our objectives, our functions (learning & teaching, research, services) and the provision of higher education.

What are the aims of the Strategy?

1. Contribute to human progress, sustainable development and intercultural understanding from an ethical and engaged point of view.
2. Raise the awareness of the entire university community regarding the challenges and benefits of the internationalization process.
3. Promote a truly participative and transversal internationalization process involving the entire community, and in particular to develop “local” internationalization strategies to be implemented at Faculty, Department, research Institute or Group level.
4. Incorporate an official Language Policy into the Internationalization Strategy as a key element for raising language awareness in general.
5. Improve the education of our students by developing international and intercultural competences.
6. Strengthen international mobility programmes for outgoing students, administrative & support and academic staff as a fulfilling and enriching learning experience, with special attention to those groups traditionally less represented in these activities.
7. Improve the quality of outgoing and incoming international mobility experiences in both academic and administrative aspects, paying particular attention to academic recognition and tutorial or support actions.
8. Enhance the informal and non-formal education of all our students through the internationalization of the campus.
9. Enhance the formal education of our students through the internationalization of the curriculum and the teaching & learning process.
10. Pursue excellence through the attraction of talent from around the world, particularly among postgraduate students and researchers.
11. Pursue excellence through the internationalization of the activities of our research groups and teaching teams.
12. Design and implement capacity-building programmes with strategic partners located in regions with low Human Development Index (IDH) scores.
13. Enhance the international visibility of the UGR through membership and leadership of international networks.
14. Enhance the international visibility of the UGR through international mass and social media.

UGR Internationalization Fund

The UGR Internationalization Fund brings together the financial instruments that support our Internationalization Strategy, as well as the actions included in the UGR’s 2024 Master Plan. These actions are understood not as an end in themselves, but as a means in the service of the quality of education, research and social commitment at the UGR.

As in the previous fifteen editions, and in accordance with the 2024 UGR Budget, the sixteenth edition of the Internationalization Fund is financed by the UGR, via the services whose activities have an impact on our university’s internationalization strategy. These funds will be used to develop diverse internationalization activities that support those already covered by national and European programmes, thereby complementing the external funds obtained to manage these programmes.

The sixteenth edition of the Internationalization Fund also reflects the intrinsically cross-cutting nature of our internationalization policy by highlighting the contributions and actions of diverse UGR services. The 2024 Internationalization Fund is divided into eight programmes designed to achieve the sustainable promotion and development of the international dimensions of study, teaching, and research, as well as the management of our institution and its services. These programmes also aim to boost the University’s participation in activities that will foster its internationalization, through both mobility initiatives and internationalization at home initiatives.

• UGR Internationalization Fund 2024 (Spanish, in pdf).

El español como lengua académica y científica  Internacional:hacia una estrategia en la UGR

El Consejo de Gobierno de la Universidad de Granada (UGR) ha aprobado, en la sesión celebrada el 30 de enero de 2025, un documento estratégico clave que busca impulsar el español como lengua académica y científica a nivel internacional. Este plan,  elaborado por la Dirección de Servicios y Recursos Lingüísticos del Vicerrectorado de Internacionalización, establece una serie de objetivos y acciones para el periodo 2025-2031.

El documento surge de la necesidad de contrarrestar la limitada presencia del español en la producción y transferencia de conocimiento especializado, a pesar de su gran número de hablantes en el mundo y la creciente demanda de certificaciones. El inglés predomina en la comunicación científica, lo que ha generado una escasez de publicaciones y corpus textual científico, así como la falta de neologismos para comunicar la ciencia en lengua española. Todo ello redunda en un desarrollo más limitado de las tecnologías de la lengua en español y de los modelos de IA, así como en la pluralidad científica y en el acceso universal al conocimiento.

En palabras de la vicerrectora de Internacionalización Inmaculada Marrero, la UGR reconoce en esta estrategia su papel como institución líder en la internacionalización académica y asume la responsabilidad de fomentar el español como lengua válida para la transmisión de conocimiento científico y tecnológico. Además, este plan se alinea con la visión de la UGR para el futuro e incluye ejes y líneas de acción del Plan Estratégico UGR 2031, tales como la internacionalización, la inclusión, la transformación digital y la responsabilidad social.

• Consulte aquí el documento completo: El español como lengua académica y científica internacional: hacia una estratégia en la UGR.

Objetivos estratégicos clave

El documento propone cinco objetivos estratégicos principales, alineados con los planes de fomento de la lengua española de la Dirección General del Español en el Mundo (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación):

• Coherencia y cohesión en la proyección internacional del español: Se busca unificar las acciones de promoción del español y fortalecer las redes académicas que lo utilicen.
• Política lingüística y comunicación clara y accesible en español: El objetivo es potenciar el español como lengua académica de prestigio en las relaciones internacionales y en los medios de comunicación universitarios.
• Formación y ciencia en español: Se pretende impulsar el español como lengua de enseñanza a nivel universitario y como vehículo para la transmisión del conocimiento científico.
• Tecnologías y armonización del español académico: Se busca contribuir a la creación de corpus de español científico, en colaboración con otros países de habla hispana para avanzar en el desarrollo de modelos de inteligencia artificial (IA) en español.
• Economía del español: Se pretende fortalecer el papel del español como factor de crecimiento y competitividad en las actividades del Centro de Lenguas Modernas (CLM).

Acciones Propuestas

Para alcanzar estos objetivos, se han definido acciones concretas, entre las que destacan:

• La creación de una Comisión para el Fomento del Español Académico en la UGR, que será el órgano encargado de establecer las prioridades y coordinar las acciones.
• El establecimiento de colaboraciones con instituciones como el Instituto Cervantes y la Dirección General del Español en el Mundo (DGEM) para alinear estrategias.
• El fomento de la publicación de contenidos científicos en español en medios de comunicación y plataformas digitales de las universidades.
• La creación de corpus de español científico de forma armonizada con países hispanohablantes.
• El refuerzo de la presencia del Centro de Lenguas Modernas en mercados clave del español como segunda lengua.

Próximos Pasos

La Universidad de Granada trabajará en los próximos meses en la puesta en práctica de acciones iniciales. Se buscará la colaboración con organismos locales, regionales, nacionales e internacionales, en donde este documento preliminar servirá para abrir un debate que ayude a posicionar el español como lengua de ciencia y tecnología en el panorama internacional.

Contacto: Silvia Montero Martínez. Dirección de Servicios y Recursos Lingüísticos. Vicerrectorado de Internacionalización. Universidad de Granada. Correo: smontero@ugr.es