A total of 144 students attended the Welcome Session, which was held on Thursday 18 January at Campus Sant Cugat. Noor Alchikh, Director of the Department of International Relations, gave a welcome speech to the international exchange students.

Half of the new students will study at Campus Barcelona, while the other half will be based at Campus Sant Cugat.  Students come from a range of different countries, with the highest numbers from: Italy (27), Mexico (21), Ireland (15), the Netherlands (6), Portugal (5), Colombia (5) and Argentina (5). Students also come from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Korea, Croatia, the Philippines, Chile, Peru, Taiwan and Turkey.

During the session on 18 January, a representative from the Department of International Relations went through some relevant academic and logistical issues, in order to answer any questions exchange students might have. The session also included a cultural workshop, and for the second year international students were introduced to their “local buddies” through an activity called “Meet your buddy”. This year saw high levels of participation from local students.

On Friday 19 January, a campus tour was held to allow students to visit their respective study areas and meet their academic coordinators.

This year, a new activity was held to round off the Welcome Sessions. On Saturday, a treasure hunt was organised through Barcelona city centre so that new exchange students could discover the city’s main attractions in fun and independent way. The aim was to encourage interactions between students so they could begin to get to know each other.