The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya is a public university that specializes in the fields of architecture, engineering, merchant seamanship, economics, health sciences and applied mathematics. Although antecedents of the University existed that, in some cases, went back to the mid 19th century, UPC itself was founded in March of 1971 and was originally known as the Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona. Given its wide regional presence with campuses and degree programs throughout the region, the Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona changed its name in 1984 to Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). Currently UPC has around 30000 undergraduate students and 6000 master’s and doctorate students. The UPC is home to more strategic research projects funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Program than any other Spanish university. Today, the University is characterized by a purposefully open stance towards international students, a wide selection of master’s degree programs in English, participation in the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and various international research programs, and a consolidated line of worldwide cooperation activities that serve as tools for change and social progress.