What is the Opening Ceremony?

The Academic Year Opening Ceremony is a solemn event held every year to start off the new academic year.

Where does it take place?

At the Universitat de València, this event has been held since its foundation in 1499, and takes place in the historic Paraninfo (Assembly Hall) in the founding building of the Universitat de València, currently the Cultural Centre ‘La Nau’, in the heart of the city of Valencia. The Paraninfo is an emblematic seventeenth-century space, renovated in the nineteenth century and adapted to the latest technologies.

What does this involve?

In the course of this act, a traditional ceremony is followed, so that the university teaching staff who have the degree of doctorate form an academic procession, ordered by the seniority of the UV centers, and closed by the Governing Council and the presidency of the act.

This year, our traditional opening ceremony for the academic year takes on a national aspect with the presence of His Majesty the King.

The University Choir will perform the ‘Veni Creator’ chant at the start of the ceremony. After the ceremonial staff stroke of the Master of Ceremonies, His Majesty King Felipe VI will open the session.

The opening lesson named ‘Universitat de València within the frame of origin and evolution of Spanish universities’ will be in charge of Universitat de València General Secretary, Professor and Doctor María Elena Olmos Ortega.
Followed by Universitat de València Principal, Professor and Doctor M.ª Vicenta Mestre Escrivá; President of the Spanish Universities Conference of Principals (CRUE), Professor and Doctor M.ª Eva Alcón Soler; Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant Ripoll; and President of Generalitat Valenciana, Honorable Carlos Mazón Guixot. His Majesty King Felipe VI closes the list with the Declaration of National Opening for the 2025-2026 Academic Year of Spanish universities.

The Academic Anthem ‘Gaudemus Igitur’ performed by the University Choir will close the ceremony and the exit of the academic committee from the auditorium.