Observatory of Scientific Communication

The Observatory of Scientific Communication is a special research centre studying the various stages of the process of conveying scientific and technological knowledge to society and analysing the relationship between science, media and society.

OCC was created at Pompeu Fabra University in 1994 with the commitment to be at the forefront of research, teaching and knowledge transfer in the study and analysis of the processes involved in the transmission of scientific, medical and technical knowledge to the society.

This strong focus on excellence and on suitable balance between the three activities has led the OCC to gain national and international acknowledgement and be constantly perceived as a trusted reference in this field of research, with a continuous participation in European, Spanish and Catalan programs and EU funded framework projects. OCC was the first university research body dedicated to scientific communication in Spain.

Location

Currently, the Observatory is located within the Barcelona Media Park, the latest of the new intensive knowledge-based structures fostered by UPF focused on Media and Communication Technologies. Barcelona Media Park is embedded at the expanding 22@ technology district, and groups on a single site the Escola Superior Politècnica, the Departament of Information and Communication Technologies, the Department of Translation and Language Sciences and the Department of Communication (which hosts the Observatory).

These, combined with a high concentration of companies, other universities, technology centres and public administrations, generate an outstanding area for the conception and implementation of RTD projects, especially for the research carried out by the Observatory given the interdisciplinary nature of its endeavours: the combination of advances in communication and technology.