State-of-the-art teaching and research

On 23 January 1921, the IQS Alumni Association met for the first time with the initial aim of maintaining contact between former students from the era. Over time, the association has taken on increased roles, including as a professional association. At the same time, the journal Affinity was created. It was one of the first journals specializing in chemistry and is currently indexed in the main reference databases (WoS and Scopus). To date, both the IQS Alumni Association and the journal are still active, and the one hundredth anniversary of their creation was celebrated in 2021.

IQS is considered to have ended its initial stage with the end of the Spanish Civil War after years of growth and the consolidation of its educational model in Sarriá. IQS had also overcome seven years of uncertainty, going through the dissolution of the Society of Jesus on 28 January 1932 as a result of the Dissolution Decree which forced IQS to leave its campus and move its classes and equipment to private homes, not to mention the period of the Spanish Civil War during which students and professors alike left when they were called up for duty.

By the 50th anniversary of the Chemical Institute of Sarriá, and after some years of intense work to regain greater student enrolment all while maintaining rigour and academic excellence, the school saw the need to expand its campus and create new laboratories. This implied a vast economic expense and, as a result of the close relationship that the school’s director at the time had with professors and students alike, Father Gil had the idea to create the IQS Business Foundation which would morally and economically support the school and the project was launched and formally incorporated on 17 November 1958. To this day it is still active, providing prestige and financial and educational support.

What was formerly known as Technical Services to Industry was created under the direction of Father Montagut, subsequently named PEINUSA (Promoter of Links between Industry and the University, 1985), and finally called IQS Tech Transfer in 2017. This department manages R&D&I and technology transfer activities, provides solutions to business needs based on scientific and technical knowledge, and uses the most advanced techniques. IQS Tech Transfer drives technological change through research, technological development, and industrial innovation. At this time, the first Statutes were drafted (1967) and the first Board of Directors was created (1969), formed by individuals representing various areas of IQS and the business world, and the different departments were organized.

There was a substantial change in the direction of the school, until then owned by the Society of Jesus. It assigned its rights to the IQS Foundation, governed by a Board of Trustees, whose members are chosen by the Province of the Jesuits in Catalonia. These trustees choose their President and the Director of IQS.

On 24 April, the project to create a new Christian-inspired university was submitted to the Parliament of Catalonia. This project was unanimously approved, launching Ramon Llull University (URL), of which IQS is a founding member along with Blanquerna, La Salle, the Faculty of Philosophy, and the Ebro Observatory. Years later, ESADE would also join the university. The first Rector (1994) of the university was Dr Miquel Gassiot, who had been the Director of IQS (1985-1994) up to then. ESADE’s initial withdrawal from the university project led to the creation of the IQS Faculty of Economics, with Business Administration and Management studies, diversifying IQS’s educational offering towards a more entrepreneurial field. Both Ramon Llull University and the IQS School of Management (formerly the IQS Faculty of Economics) celebrated the 25th anniversary of its creation in 2016. After consolidating its Business Administration and Management studies, IQS began offering Industrial Engineering studies in 2000.

IQS earned ABET accreditation in Chemical Engineering studies, and was the first university in Spain to achieve this. Subsequently, in 2020, it also obtained ABET accreditation for the Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering and the Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and Industrial Engineering, highlighting the “Student First” orientation of professors and the high participation of students in the coordination mechanisms of the programmes strengthening their potential and guaranteeing their optimal preparation. In 2007, the IQS Faculty of Economics and all its programmes obtained accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Since then, both accreditations have been maintained and renewed yearly, highlighting the teaching and research at our institution.

IQS celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of its creation with numerous commemoration activities. These included the inauguration of the IQS Museum, which showcases the institution’s 100-year history. These events were accompanied by recognition from civil society when IQS received the Gold Medal from the city of Barcelona and the Cross of Saint George, a distinction from the Government of Catalonia recognizing the school’s teaching and research work.

The Decree published in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia on 17 November 2011 indicated the name change of the IQS Advanced Technical School and the IQS School of Economics to the IQS School of Engineering and the IQS School of Management, respectively. This change was accompanied by an expansion to the academic offering and the facilities at IQS, with the inauguration of a new 10,800 m2 building in 2012 aimed mainly at Management and Executive Education standing out. At the IQS School of Engineering, new degrees in Biotechnology (2013), Pharmacy (2014, in collaboration with the Blanquerna Faculty of Health Sciences), and Biomedical Sciences (2022) were launched. In addition, the IQS School of Management introduced the Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing (2017), the Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management (2021, following the incorporation of the San Ignacio Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management), and the Bachelor’s Degree in International Business (2021, in collaboration with IESEG in France and Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom).

The new Process Transfer and Integrative Technologies Centre (CTPTI) at IQS was inaugurated, with a surface area of 1,150 m2. It consists of a basement and a ground floor that include a Nanotechnology Laboratory, an Advanced Materials and Biomaterials Laboratory, a Continuous Flow Processes Chemical Laboratory, and a Bioprocess Pilot Plant. This project forms part of the OT1 objective of the Government of Catalonia aimed at promoting technological development, innovation, and quality research, and is co-financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the framework of the ERDF operational programme of Catalonia 2014-2020.

With a clear commitment to the creation of new equipment and to offer high-quality teaching and research at the IQS School of Management as well, IQS inaugurated the new IQS School of Management Finance Laboratory in 2022 by creating a 150 m2 area equipped with computers featuring Refinitiv Workspace software that provides access to real-time information on financial markets. IQS completed the expansion of new spaces in 2023 with the inauguration of the Neuro & Digital Marketing Lab, in a facility of more than 100 m2 that is innovative and unique in Spanish universities and equipped with advanced digital marketing software and state-of-the-art neuromarketing tools.

Along with new facilities, IQS also presented a renewed and more innovative corporate image. The new corporate visual image improves readability for our brand and addresses the needs of an increasingly digital and international environment, all while remaining faithful to the values and origins of our school. A new and improved website was also launched along with a new logo that integrates the two faculties of IQS, reinforcing a more cohesive and cross-disciplinary corporate image which also brings together all the sub-brands and divisions of the institution. The “Q” has gained character and dynamism by incorporating the colour green, thereby giving a nod to sustainability, something that is very present in IQS’s strategic plan. More innovative, more international, more sustainable. These are the keys to the transformation and future prospects of a century-old institution that is focused on the future.