The Jaime I University (in Valencian, Universitat Jaume I), also referred to by its acronym UJI, is a public higher education and research university located in the city of Castellón de la Plana, province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain.
It was founded in 1991. Its name is due to James I of Aragon.
The Jaime I University is a pioneer in the use of new information technologies. It was the first Spanish institution to have a public web server and the first university to have a Centre for Education and New Technologies (CENT) whose mission is to research and advise on the application of new technologies to improve the quality of teaching. It was also the first university in the country to offer the degree of Technical Engineering in Industrial Design (equivalent to the current Degree in Engineering in Industrial Design and Product Development). The UJI has become a pioneer university in Spain in the implementation of multimedia teaching with the installation, in all its classrooms, of integrated computer and audiovisual equipment to improve the teaching and learning process.
Jaime I University is among the leading universities in Spain in obtaining external resources for research and development per professor. Jaime I promotes industrial innovation and R&D with its own plan endowed with more than 600,000 euros, and has promoted the creation of the “Xarxa de Serveis” (Service Network), a set of services for the promotion of specific scientific and technological work for the companies in its environment.
It is part of the Vives Network of Universities (XVU), which includes a total of 20 universities from the Valencian-Catalan speaking geographical area. In addition, Jaime I University houses the Institute of Ceramic Technology (ITC), a world-leading centre for research oriented to the tile industry, both in technological development and in research into social trends through the Habitat Trends Observatory (OTH).
In addition to the above, the Jaime I University is internationally recognised for its International Master’s Degree in Peace, Conflict and Development Studies, which was created almost twenty years ago and in which around 40 students from thirty different countries participate every year. To date, more than a thousand students from more than 100 countries have graduated from this Master’s Degree. The International Master’s Degree in Peace, Conflict and Development Studies is organised by the Jaime I University, the UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace and the Interuniversity Institute for Social Development and Peace (IUDESP), and is continued in the Doctorate in International Peace, Conflict and Development Studies, with a mention for excellence for the period 2011-2014 from the Ministry of Education of the Government of Spain.
Teaching centres
It consists of three faculties and a school that offered 31 bachelor’s degrees and 45 master’s degrees in the 2014-2015 academic year.
- Faculty of Legal and Economic Sciences
- Faculty of Human and Social Sciences
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Higher School of Technology and Experimental Sciences
- Unofficial studies and activities
Jaime I University, in addition to offering official degrees, also carries out the following teaching activities:
- Unofficial postgraduate courses and seminars
- University for Seniors
- Jaime I University-Business Foundation (FUE-UJI), where it offers postgraduate courses and university-specific degrees.
The university has approximately 14,000 students. The campus, covering 176 000 m2, has 4 faculties and many research and management buildings located around a central 13,000 m2 garden, called the Jardí dels Sentits (the garden of the senses).
Jaume I University aspires to improve its position in the ranking tables. In the 2021 Shanghai Ranking, it appears among the top 700 universities in the world, making it one of the top 20 of universities in Spain. According to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, it is among the top 1000 institutions worldwide in 2022, in the top 600 for Impact (2021), and 196th in the Young University Rankings 2021. In the 2021 Web of Universities ranking, Jaume I University comes 21st in Spain and 642nd worldwide.
See also TOP universities of Spain