History, mission and identity

History of the University

The University of Deusto was founded in 1886 by the Society of Jesus. Its birth coincided with the cultural concerns and interests of both the Basque Country to have its own university and the Society of Jesus to establish higher studies in some part of the Spanish state. The city of Bilbao, a port and commercial city that was experiencing considerable industrial growth at the time, was chosen. Bilbao is the centre of a metropolitan area with more than one million inhabitants, a city traditionally open to Europe.

It is also an important port, commercial and financial centre in the Basque Country and Northern Spain. Since November 1997, it has been significantly transformed under a symbol, an emblematic building, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The headquarters of the University of Deusto is located on the other side of the estuary, opposite the Guggenheim Museum. In 1916, the "Universidad Comercial de Deusto" received the first group of students who would be the first graduates in Economic Sciences in Spain, 25 years before this degree was officially recognised.

In 1963, the Instituto de Estudios Universitarios y Técnicos de Gipuzkoa was formed in San Sebastian, from the integration of three existing entities. This institute would later become part of the University of Deusto. The University is therefore located on two campuses, in the two coastal capitals of the Basque Country: Bilbao and San Sebastian.

Beyond individualresearch and those coordinated from chairs such as Law and the Human Genome or Leisure and Disabilities, there is, at the institutional level, a clear option for social issues of interdependence, distribution of resources, migrations, human rights, development, poverty and environment, ethics and society, as well as studies on cultural identity (individual and collective) and European integration processes, taking part in several international research groups.

 Internationalisation, without excluding other regions, shows a clear commitment to Europe and Latin America, having signed agreements with more than 200 universities.

With a mobility of around 1,300 students and 50 lecturers, faculties, institutes and schools are also involved in intensive programmes, European modules and joint curriculum designs at various levels, as well as cross-border activities, integrated languages, open and distance learning (ODL) and Leonardo programmes. The whole University adopted the European credit system in 1994 and works on its promotion and quality. In fact, Deusto was the first European University to extend European credit to all its faculties.

History of Deusto in video

Mission and identity

The University of Deusto aims to serve society through a specifically university-based contribution based on a Christian vision of reality.

As a university, it is presided over by the pursuit of wisdom and the desire to understand and explore the structure of reality with scientific rigour and methodology. It therefore strives for excellence in research and teaching. At the same time, it aims to educate free individuals, responsible citizens and competent professionals, equipped with the knowledge, values and skills that will enable them to commit themselves to the promotion of knowledge and the transformation of society.  

University project

Jesuit University

Faith, justice and culture

A more humane world

Promoting justice

Faith, the engine of knowledge

Its roots in the Christian tradition lead it to believe that faith in God, as well as giving meaning to life, inspires and stimulates an ever deeper and more critical understanding of any truly human cultural process. Conversely, it recognises that culture, science and technology offer valuable tools for updating the understanding of the Christian message. All of these factors make the university a place for meeting and dialogue between faith and knowledge, transcendental hope and the quest for a more human future for all. This is what its status as a University of the Church mainly consists of.

Likewise, the University of Deusto has been associated, since its inception, with the mission of the Society of Jesus. It is thus part of a worldwide university network and a teaching tradition centred on the person as the prevalent value. Today it also shares the belief that the service of faith entails the promotion of justice. This is why it is committed to making its voice heard wherever man and society compromise their future through reflection on culture and in dialogue with social actors; in particular, in respect for life, the universal implementation of human rights, the fair distribution of goods, the cultivation of peace and the safeguarding of nature.

Within the universal horizon of knowledge and the general interest in human affairs, which characterise the university, the University of Deusto feels particularly close to Basque society, which it wishes to serve as a university institution, both in its cultural needs and in social, technical and economic development at all levels.

The focus on the individual ultimately leads this University to conceive university life as a community of men and women who strive to provide a model of coexistence in which respectful dialogue facilitates relations of collaboration and friendship.

Jesuit universities share the mission of service to the individual and to society with other universities. They carry this out through their contribution to science and culture, while at the same time, as Jesuit universities, they participate in the mission of the Society of Jesus Society of Jesus. Its challenge and foundation is, therefore, to fulfil its mission of service to faith, through its service to science and culture, avoiding any instrumentalisation of culture and the university being.

With the implementation of the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which requires a review of degree programmes and a redefinition of academic curricula, the universities and higher education institutions of the Society of Jesus will review, in the light of their identity and mission, the ultimate objectives of their presence in the academic world. In September 2001UNIJES Jesuit-University) drew up a Declaration where the ultimate raison d'être of the Jesuit Higher Education Centres was broadly described. It relates to the current Reflections on i+m facing the new university challenges'

The Mission of a Jesuit University also requires that its objectives (faith, justice and culture) be developed in a climate of dialogue with those religious, cultural or social actors, whose cooperation enables fundamental values such as peace, justice, harmony, human rights and respect to be endorsed and shared between believers and non-believers. 

The University of Deusto, together with eight other institutions, is a member of the Federation of Universities, Faculties and Institutions of Higher Education (UNIJES), institutions created or bound by statutory provisions to the Society of Jesus in Spain.

Deusto has defined Strategic Plans  in recent years that, based on strategic options, establish activities that focus on a Vision defined as its future horizon. Our desire as individuals and as an institution is to contribute something positive to the construction of a fairer, more caring and  humaneworld, following the orientation of our Mission, contained in the Deusto University Project. The University has established the Deusto Educational Framework as the horizon of the educational innovation process that is being implemented as a differentiating response of the university to our current context.

The University of Deusto aims to serve society through a specifically university-based contribution. The 'justice' dimension of the mission is called upon to transversally permeate all university activities. There are also specific centres or services that explicitly aim to promote this dimension. Some of them are:

  • Ethics Seminars
  • Pedro Arrupe Institute of Human Rights
  • Gaurgiro
  • Gurya
  • University Guidance Service
  • Cooperation for development

As stated in the University Project, our roots in the Christian tradition lead us to believe that faith in God, as well as giving meaning to life, inspires and stimulates an ever deeper and more critical understanding of any truly human cultural process.

Our university assumes its status as a Catholic university in that it promotes theological reflection in the European cultural debate. It also offers pastoral services so that students and staff can deepen their faith, based on the Ignatian charism. Some of the centres seeking to promote this dimension include:

  • Faculty of Theology
  • Higher Institute of Religious Sciences
  • Human and Religious Sciences Seminars
  • Pastoral Service (Bilbao and San Sebastian)