Urban Mobility
The Master's Degree in Urban Mobility improves global urban mobility through technical infrastructure upgrades and holistic planning. The program trains engineers in transportation operations, mobility services, data science, ICT, and energy technologies for sustainable mobility. It also provides fundamental tools for entrepreneurship and innovation in today's rapidly changing society.
The Urban Mobility master's degree is available as an official master at UPC-BarcelonaTech (i.e "Local version"; 2 years at UPC-BarcelonaTech) or through the EIT Urban Mobility Master School (i.e. "EIT version"; 1 year at UPC-BarcelonaTech + 1 year at another European university). For details on each program, see the Admission section. Enrollment periods may vary.
This master’s degree program includes a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) and offers 3 intensifications (or tracks), which are:
- Sustainable Urban Mobility Transitions (request webinar)
- Smart Mobility Data Science & Analytics (request webinar)
- Business Engineering in Urban Mobility (more information, request webinar)
This master's program enables a dual degree with the Master's Degree in Civil Engineering (MECCP + MUM) for the local version of it.
| Academic year starts in | September |
| Duration | 2 years |
| Study load | 120 ECTS (including the Master's Final Thesis) |
| Delivery | On-campus |
| Language | English |
| Places | 60 |
| Official degree | Master's Degree in Urban Mobility by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (recorded in the Spanish Ministry of Education's degree register) |
| Fees | |
| Academic coordinator |
Miquel Estrada (EIT coordinator) Francesc Soriguera Martí (Barcelona School of Civil Engineering coordinator) |
| Track coordinators |
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| Contact at EIT Urban Mobility Master's School | masterschool@eiturbanmobility.eu |
Specific admission requirements at UPC-BarcelonaTech
In order to gain local admission to the Master's Degree in Urban Mobility at UPC-BarcelonaTech, the following requirements must be met:
Direct admission
Holders of the following qualifications may be admitted to the master's degree directly, without having to take bridging courses:
- Bachelor's degrees in engineering (Industrial Engineering, Civil Engineering, Construction Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Informatics Engineering, Engineering Physics, other engineering fields).
- Pre-EHEA and second-cycle degrees (Industrial Engineering, Civil Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Informatics Engineering, Engineering Physics, other engineering fields).
- Pre-EHEA degrees in Architecture.
Bridging courses
Holders of:
- Bachelor's degrees in science (Physics, Mathematics, Statistics) or other bachelor's degrees
- Pre-EHEA diplomas in the field of industrial engineering and in Public Works (Civil Constructions, Hydrology and Urban Transport and Services) or other technical diplomas
will be required to take 30 ECTS credits in bridging courses.
English level B2
Given that the master’s degree is taught entirely in English, CEFR English Level B2 is required and can be demonstrated by providing proof of any of the following:
- English is your mother tongue.
- You have studied in an English-speaking country (for at least a semester).
- You have taken an academic university programme taught in English (for at least a semester).
- You are the holder of a qualification awarded by an institution in the European Higher Education Area that includes English Level B2.
- You are in possession of one of the English-language certificates listed below.
- Cambridge: FCE
- TOEFL PBT:> = 567; TCC:> = 227; IBT:> = 87
- IELTS: 5.5
- TOEIC: 750
- Escola Oficial d’Idiomes: Advanced level certificate (Level 5)
An English B2 certificate can also be obtained at UPC-BarcelonaTech.
Students pending obtaining the degree that gives access to the master's degree
UPC undergraduate students who, despite not having obtained the bachelor’s degree, have pending the TFG and, at most, up to 9 ECTS (including credits pending recognition or transfer) or who have completed their studies, but are waiting to achieve, if possible, transversal competence in a third language. Under no circumstances will students who access this route be able to obtain a master's degree if they have not previously obtained a bachelor's degree.
Candidates from other universities who are enrolled in all the credits to complete the studies that give access to the master's degree can apply for access. Acceptance will be conditioned to the fulfillment of the general and specific access and admission requirements at the time of formalizing the registration.
You will find all the information about the general Access requirements to UPC master's programs here.
Admission criteria at UPC-BarcelonaTech
The academic records of applicants are reviewed by the academic committee, which selects the applicants to be admitted directly and those who must take bridging courses because they do not have the necessary knowledge and skills. The admission criteria are the academic record (60%), professional experience (10%), the English-language level, if it is above the minimum level required for admission to the master's degree (15%), and the correspondence between the competencies of the entrance qualification and the competencies of this master's degree (15%).
Pre-enrolment
The Master’s Degree in Urban Mobility is offered within two possible programmes:
EIT Urban Mobility Master School programme
As an EIT Urban Mobility Master School programme, belonging to the European Institute of Technology (EIT), it includes a specific scholarship programme. The first year (entry year) is taken at one of the universities in the consortium (60 ECTS), while the second year (exit year) is taken at a different university (60 ECTS). Students may be awarded a double degree and the EIT Label Certificate.
This option does not include the Advanced Mobility Services track, as it is only taught at UPC-BarcelonaTech.
Details on the different options, universities, and specific admission requirements are found at EIT Urban Mobility Master School. We strongly encourage students to apply through the EIT Urban Mobility Master School.
To enter this programme as part of the double degree programs of the EIT Urban Mobility Master School, you must apply:
- Period 1: November 15th 2023 till January 31st, 2024
- Period 2: February 1st and closes on April 15th 2024.
This option does neither include the Advanced Mobility Services track nor the Innovative Mobility Technology track, as they are only taught at UPC-BarcelonaTech.
Local master's degree programme at UPC-BarcelonaTech
The programme can be taken at UPC-BarcelonaTech in its entirety (2 years, 120 ECTS) and thus must follow UPC-BarcelonaTech's pre-enrolment process.
The application period at UPC-BarcelonaTech starts in January 15th 2024 and ends in July 1st 2024.
Career opportunities
Graduates may find employment in logistics, transport management, mobility and sustainability departments in public bodies, mobility operators, urbanism, consultancy, the automobile sector, private mobility services, etc.
Their potential future careers are as urban planners and designers of public spaces, planners of sustainable mobility policies, advisors in private and public companies in the sector, designers and managers of mobility services, mobility energy strategists, citizen participation coordinators and international mobility project managers.
They will have high-level competencies in entrepreneurship and innovation and may develop business initiatives on a self-employed basis or set up a business.
Learning objectives
Generic competencies
Generic competencies are the skills that graduates acquire regardless of the specific course or field of study. The generic competencies established by UPC-BarcelonaTech are capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, sustainability and social commitment, knowledge of a foreign language (preferably English), teamwork and proper use of information resources.
Specific competencies
- To analyse and design mobility and logistics services, in whole or in part, by applying methods, techniques and tools that are appropriate for specific functions and aims.
- To design procedures for collecting mobility data that take into consideration their specificity, and to apply appropriate techniques for processing them, analysing them and drawing conclusions from them so that they can be used in the models that require them.
- To design and carry out demand analysis studies, and to model demand and its structure in accordance with mobility models.
- To apply modelling, optimisation and simulation techniques for solving problems that arise in mobility design, operation and management.
- To diagnose the implications of globalisation phenomena and changes in markets for the operation of supply chains.
- To calculate fundamental variables in transport and mobility systems that affect the safety, quality and sustainability of transport infrastructure and the optimisation of the functioning of these systems.
- To plan, manage and operate transport and mobility systems, and to analyse the levels of service to users, operating costs and the social and environmental impacts of public passenger transport, traffic, private vehicles, air transport, maritime transport, intermodal transport and urban mobility.
- To identify the future consequences of short- and long-term plans and decisions from an integrated scientific, ethical and intergenerational perspective, and to bring these elements together in a solution-based approach to advance towards a sustainable society. (Specific competency of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship specialisation)
- To translate innovations into viable business solutions. (Specific competency of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship specialisation)
- To foster one's ability to think beyond pre-established limits and systematically explore and generate new ideas. (Specific competency of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship specialisation)
- To apply knowledge, ideas and technology to create or significantly improve new products, services, processes, policies, business models and jobs. (Specific competency of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship specialisation)
- To use and apply cutting-edge research methods, processes and techniques to create and grow new businesses and in interdisciplinary teams and contexts. (Specific competency of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship specialisation)
- To transform practical experiences into research problems and challenges. (Specific competency of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship specialisation)
- To make decisions and foster one's leadership abilities on the basis of a holistic understanding of the contributions of higher education, research and businesses to value creation, in teams and contexts that are limited in size or scope. (Specific competency of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship specialisation)
- To carry out and present and defend before an examination committee an original, individual piece of work consisting of an urban mobility project, of a professional or research nature, that synthesises and integrates the competencies acquired on the master's degree.
- A capacity for the planning, management and operation of civil engineering infrastructure.
Below are the courses that are offered at UPC-BarcelonaTech for the first and second year.
Must enrol in a total of 60 ECTS distributed into 30 ECTS in the fall semester and 30 ECTS in the spring semester. In the spring semester students must enrol 10 ECTS of elective subjects from the chosen track.
| Fall semester | |
| Mandatory | ECTS |
| 250MUM010 - Introduction to supply chain | 5 |
| 250MUM011 - Mobility modeling | 5 |
| 250MUM012 - Operation & management of transport systems | 5 |
| 250MUM013 - Data analysis in transport systems | 5 |
| I&E Elective (must enrol 10 ECTS) | ECTS |
| 250MUM014 - Decision making & economy in urban mobility | 5 |
| 250MUM028 - Innovation & entrepreneurship for world challenges | 5 |
| Spring semester | |
| Mandatory | ECTS |
| 250MUM001 - Liveable cities & urban mobility | 5 |
| 250MUM015 - Travel demand & behavioral modeling | 5 |
| I&E Elective (must enrol 10 ECTS) | ECTS |
| 250MUM002 - Project based on an innovation challenge | 10 |
| Electives of track (must enrol 10 ECTS from the same chosen track) | ECTS |
| Sustainable urban mobility transitions track | |
| 250MUM016 - Public transport | 5 |
| 250MUM017 - Optimization models for transportation networks | 5 |
| 250MUM018 - Traffic simulation models | 5 |
| 250MUM019 - Railway transport | 5 |
| 250MUM020 - Sustainable mobility | 5 |
| 250MUM027 - Port management & maritime transport | 5 |
| Smart Mobility Data Science & Analytics track | |
| 250MUM007 - Data management for transportation | 4 |
| 270957UM - Machine Learning | 6 |
| Fall semester | |
| I&E Elective (must enrol 10 ECTS) | ECTS |
| 230639UM - Technology asset management | 5 |
| 250MUM029 - Product or service development project | 2 |
| 250MUM030 - Innovative solutions to mobility business challenges" (recognized by EIT Summer School) | 3 |
| 250MUM006 - Case studies in urban mobility | 5 |
| Electives of track (must enrol 20 ECTS from the same chosen track) | ECTS |
| Sustainable urban mobility transitions track | |
| 250MUM021 - Mobility & development | 5 |
| 250MUM022 - Transports of goods | 5 |
| 250MUM023 - Traffic | 5 |
| 250MUM024 - Airport management | 5 |
| 250MUM025 - Vehicle routing models | 5 |
| 250MUM026 - Smart mobility (SMART) | 5 |
| Smart Mobility Data Science & Analytics track | |
| link to elective courses | |
| For more information please contact Prof. Lidia Montero. | |
| Spring semester | |
| Mandatory | ECTS |
| Master's thesis | 30 |
| I&E Elective | ECTS |
| 270860UM - Viability of business project | 6 |
Students enrolled at UPC-BarcelonaTech for the Master's Degree in Urban Mobility can access the following information:
The Master's Thesis is an original exercise to be done individually and presented and defended before a university panel consisting in a project in the sphere of the specific urban mobility synthesising and integrating the competences acquired on the course.
If the student takes the master thesis outside the UPC (and it is also evaluated in another university), then, to incorporate the qualification at UPC it is necessary:
- Enrollment at the UPC and enrollment also at the destination university of the Master's Thesis.
- Master's Thesis abstract, original document signed and stamped and sent by email to masters.camins@upc.edu. If the file does not incorporate an authenticated digital electronic signature, deliver the signed and stamped original.
- Upload the work to Atenea TFE.
- Master's thesis qualification certificate issued by the official destination university. Please send a digital copy, if the center has an authenticated digital electronic signature, if not, please send the original certificate on paper.
List of master's theses currently scheduled for public presentation:
As this is a new programme there is not any information available for the moment.
Related links
Institutional information
- Data on the faculty
- Data on the degree
- System of Guarantee of Degree Quality
Contact
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