In 2024, the Universitat de València will celebrate its 525 years of existence. It is a historic milestone that we will reach with the satisfaction of being the first university: the first university in Europe in number of incoming Erasmus and international students; the first on-site university in Spain in terms of students with disabilities; the first university in Spain in participation in university sports competitions; and the first public university in Spain in terms of sports results.

We are the first Valencian university in history, but we are also the first as regards results in all areas: in teaching, with excellent results from our students; in research and knowledge transfer, where we have become a benchmark, ranking third in Spain in all the research rankings, first in several subjects and among the top three in Spain, among the top 100 universities in Europe and one of the leading Spanish universities in world rankings; we are the first Valencian university in cultural activities and in international cooperation actions; and also in sports.

These outstanding positions, to which we can add excellent results in other areas as well, are the result of the work of generations throughout history, from the dream of king James I in the 13th century, when he obtained the papal authorisation to establish a university in the newly created Kingdom of Valencia, to the results of the strategic plans that have preceded this one.

The desire of the Jurats of Valencia when these former magistrates created the Universitat de València in 1499 was to become a university institution of European reference. Now, the results of the work of our entire university community allow us to face the future with pride.

In an ever-changing context such as the current one, strategic planning becomes key to guiding the steps of any organisation, even more so when it comes to a public institution such as the University of Valencia, a university that has addressed all the challenges that society has faced throughout history, and that has grown and developed in parallel to our territory. A university that has the responsibility for contributing to the intellectual and material progress of Valencian society and of the rest of the peoples of the world; that must project itself on the Valencian reality and, also, contribute to the values of peace, sustainability and effective equality between men and women.

That responsibility emanates from our Statutes. And we apply ourselves to these functions. And we do so with the necessary planning to ensure an effective and efficient management of the resources that Valencian society puts at our disposal and of the funds that we obtain in our research and knowledge transfer activities.

In this strategic plan you will find a careful analysis of the current situation and also the road map to achieve the objectives that we set ourselves as a public institution within the framework of the exercise of university autonomy established in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, which recently reached 45 years of existence.

This is, therefore, the space to thank the work of all the people who have made this new strategic plan possible and, also, each and every person who makes up this university community; all those who, every day, make the Universitat de València possible.

Mª Vicenta Mestre

Rector