Acte Acadèmic de Graduació. Màsters del Departament de Ciències Polítiques i Socials 2026

Hunda Veronica Roco. >> [applause] >> Buenos. Good morning. Casten. Today we celebrate much more than a completion of a master's degree. We celebrate months of learning, debate, research, and collaboration that have brought together uh students from many different countries, cultures, and professional backgrounds. Governance research in political science master in governance political philosophy research master in sociology and demography mundus European politics and society vaklav joint master program. Institutions Many of you arrived at Pompeo Fabra from different parts of the world. During this journey, you have not only gained knowledge but also build friendships, exchange perspectives and learn from one another. Those experience will remain one of the greatest achievements of your time here. That's what was happening. [applause] [applause] Okay. So we continue. We will now begin the graduation lecture which this year will be delivered to two distinguished alumni of Pompeo Fabra. She's Juliana Fornasier and Vin Winkler. Juliana Forazier is a PhD candidate in the department of political and social sciences at University Pompeo Fabra where her her research f um her research focused on how local governments learn and develop migration policies. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administr administration from the federal university of Rio Grande doul Brazil and master's degree in immigration studies from UPF. Alongside her academic work, she collaborates on European projects as a migration and governance consultant and has worked with international organizations such as the international organization for migration and international center for migration policy development. V Winkler is a research assistant in BA BACES and an alumnus of University at Pompeo Fabra. We are um where he complete both of the masters of research in political science and the master's program in current democracies. He also holds a bachelor degree in social science from the university of Germany. His professional experience combines academic research uh with practical work in politics having served in the office of a German member of parliament. [snorts] His research focused on European political parties and welfare state polic policymaking. Their careers are an excellent example of how academic knowledge can contribute contribute both to research and addressing the major political and social challenges of our time. So please join welcoming welcome him uh Juliana Foreser invite Vinkler to the stage with a warm round of applause please. [applause] >> [applause] >> Hello everyone. Thank you for having me speak to you today. I was given the honor to kick off the ceremony. So, first of all, congratulations to all of you. This um is a huge milestone in your careers and a very exciting moment for all of you and your families as well, I'm sure. So my name is Joelena Fornazier as Veronica has introduced me and I was where you were here quite a few years ago now in 2017 when I graduated from the masters in migration management as it was called back then here at Pompeo Fabra University. So just as was it was in my case um I hope you all had a wonderful year although probably challenging uh at times I know making new friends and connections expanding your horizon on both a personal and intellectual level and cultivating new dreams and aspirations. I don't know if you will relate to this but I remember the period of finishing my masters as one filled with mixed feelings. I didn't know what my next step would be. And after moving from high school to university back in my home country, Brazil, and from university directly to the masters here at UPF, I found myself probably for the first time um with no fixed direct direction to go in after my masters. At that at that time, I didn't want to pursue a PhD or stay in academia. and I felt ready to start working in my field, the field of migration. Despite all the confidence I felt after finishing my studies, I realized it wasn't that easy to find a job that fit my expectations as I was in that limbo where I wanted to put into practice all the things I had learned during my master's program and I was feeling great about it and very wellprepared for the job market. But on the other hand, for recruiters, I wasn't experienced enough. So all that kind of stuff that you might be experiencing soon, sorry for breaking the bad news, [laughter] but that also makes us more resilient, more humble, and probably more open to opportunities that otherwise we might not have thought about as we have to find creative creative ways to navigate these uncertainties. Then with patience and after a few jobs here and there, I found an internship in my field at an international organization in Vienna, Austria. So I moved there. That internship eventually turned into a job contract. And after a couple of years, it prepared me for moving on to a new job. This time in Berlin with the International Organization for Migration at the United Nations. And so one more place where life took me and for which the skills I gained in my master's program certainly played a big role. Then again after another couple of years and inspired by brilliant colleagues I had around me. There came a moment when I decided I wanted to go more in depth into migration studies. And so I came back to Barcelona and back to Pompeo Fabra University for my PhD program here at the department of political and social sciences. That's how much I like UPF. Um and so that's where I am now in the midst of my PhD journey. Very happy about it. Learning new skills, challenging myself and getting to work with more amazing people. I was just at a conference in Jirona last week and I had the chance to see some old and new colleagues uh from different these different faces of my life and that was really rewarding. So I'm sharing a bit of my story with you today to reassure you that nothing is set in stone. You can always change your minds, discover new interests, move between different professions. Whatever it is, life will inevitably always surprise us. And that's good. That's great news for us. While that happens, make sure you nurture the meaningful relationships you build along the way and always strive to be an ethical, compassionate professional. Throughout all these years since my master's graduation, I have often reflected on how the decisions we make shape our journeys and ultimately lead us to where we are today. If I had chosen a different masters in a different city or country, I wouldn't be here today and neither would you. It may not seem more obvious now, but the year you've spent here at UPF studying along this alongside these colleagues will leave a lasting mark on your personal and professional journey and that will stay with you wherever life takes you next. You might have decided that you want to stay in Barcelona for a little longer. You might be going back home soon or moving somewhere else. You might also have no clue what your next step is. And that's fine. You can enjoy summer first. But you will for sure carry carry with you the memories and lessons learned during this past year to say the least. On top of that, if you also carry friends, mentors, opportunities, then all the better. Some of my best friends in Barcelona today are my master's friends, people I connected with through a shared interest and a shared drive for life and who I felt shared a similar vision of the world with me. I'm very thankful to UPF for that and I hope you feel the same. Most of all, you should feel really proud of yourselves for this achievement because you worked hard to be here today. Don't despair if you're also feeling a bit anxious right now. know that you're not alone and things will fall into place at the right time. But this is a moment to celebrate to celebrate you, your decisions, your efforts. Being here today was probably your dream not too long ago and here you are. So very well done. And now it's time to pursue new dreams and I wish you the very best of luck in your future adventures. Thank you very much. [applause] >> [applause] >> Dear graduates and dear guests, I feel very honored um to have been asked to give a short speech to you today on this of course incredibly important day for all of you. My name is F Winkler. I graduated last year from the master of research and political science and the year prior from the master in current democracies and I'm currently working here in Barcelona at the mra in the Barcelona center for European studies and just over a little over a year ago I was in exact same position as you are today. At that point, I was writing my thesis, spent my days in the library, worried about my thesis, my grade, about whether my defense would go well, and about whether my research was actually good enough. So, I can imagine very well how relieved, how joyous, and how proud all of you must feel today. Therefore, first and foremost, of course, my congrat my my congratulations to each and every one of you. You deserve this moment and this day, and hopefully week of celebration. I can hear um indifference to Juliana of course only speak um from one year of postmasters degree experience but maybe I thought one year of distance distance might actually be very helpful and insightful for you. I remember very well what it felt like to be in the situation you're in now and I think I might now just have enough distance to start seeing things I could not see while I was still in the middle of it and while I was um celebrating this great achievement of course. So rather than pretending to have figured out everything, which I have of course not, I want to use this opportunity to offer you a small glance into the first year after your graduation. Not just from my own experience actually, but from the experiences of other people from my cohort from last year as well. Maybe this is also a good moment to tell you that of course the occasions when it is possible to talk to um to your former classmates is definitely the case for me have become much more rare since we live in different cities and different countries. So now I just want to recommend you of course to enjoy and to cherish this time you still have with the pe with all the your classmates and the people you were working so hard with to achieve um to get here today. Amongst my classmates from last year, several are doing their PhD. Some here in Barcelona, somewhere some somewhere else. Others are working for city administrations, a local chamber of commerce, in the private sector, and another, for example, in the Interamerican Development Bank in in Uruguay. Others are currently looking for a new job in Puerto Rico and in Brussels, respectively. And I'm sure if I asked more people from the other masters that I knew last year, many more different answer answers would come up. Despite these huge differences between the positions we all find ourselves in today, their answers when I asked them in preparation for today what they had taken away from from their time here at the univers were actually quite similar. Many if not all pointed out the UPF's fantastic academic community specific specific courses they had and how important it was for them to um and how much they miss now being able to work with people from all over the world with different backgrounds and from um with people with such different perspectives to learn with and from people from everywhere from Catalunia to the whole world was something that all of us consider considered a great privilege and I imagine many of you do as well. All of us in the course of this last year also noticed that beyond having received this degree and um a diploma and being able to put in our put it into our CV and to summarize it well in a job interview for instance, we all noticed how much the degree and the time here at the Univers Fabra influenced how we learn from new experiences, how much we take away from um each experience, whatever it is. We noticed how much our studies and our degree have definitely given us incredibly know incredible knowledge. We have learned about a grand number of theoretical frameworks from political science, sociology and so on. We have learned methodologies, how to do statistical analysis, concepts and framework. But we also realize this is only one part of what we took away from our studies. What this degree has actually also given us and will give to you and what I and my fellow graduates from last year have come to appreciate most in the past year is actually the ability to learn on a much deeper level from any situation and from any experience we have. This is not just true for the observations we make as we learned from political events, societal developments, discourses and so on but but it will also be true for you um for any professional experience for any internship for any traineeship or job that you have whether they are actually what you hope for or whether they may be actually disappointing. We noticed, and you will notice that for sure as well, that you will all be able to take much more away, reflect much more deeply, and to draw much more profound lessons from all that than many others ever will. Despite that, today is of course about you celebrating, I'm sure that many of you still have a lot of doubts, worries, and feel uncertain about the next steps. This is of course completely understandable. and one year and with one year of hindsight, I can definitely tell you that it was the same for all of us and is actually uh the case for many of us till today. focusing for one year straight on reading papers, preparing presentations with different people, writing research papers and finally of course writing your thesis especially in the challenging um and extremely demanding but at the same time excellent um academic environment of the uh UPF can leave little time for researching about jobs applying and so on and so forth for the time after your studies there's a lot of uh there's of course a lot of pressure for you uh created for you not just of course the financial pressure which we all um have to have an income, but also um but also about what kind of experience, what kind of job or internship or program you are supposed to have after your masters, which makes it even harder to actually understand and figure out what you actually want from your future professional and academic career. Regarding these uncertainties that many of you have and many like me from last year still have to some extent, I think you actually did through your studies already learned something very important on how to deal with this and how to make up your own mind about your future. As social scientists, as graduates in political science, sociology, governance, European studies, and political philosophy, we all learned here at the UPF to look critically at the world around us, to look critically at society, politics, um, discourses, and the institutions which govern us. And you learn to, of course, resist the easy explanations and look beyond the things which are supposedly set in stone. One year after your graduation, what many of us one year after our graduation, what many of us learned is that it is necessary to also think critically about many of the expectations and career advice that we are all confronted with constantly and which are easy to internalize. We should always apply the same critical lens to the templates we are handed about what a successful life or career is supposed to look like, what milestones you're supposed to reach by what age, and what are the most and only valuable experiences that they are supposed to exist. Only then is this actually possible to understand what you want and what is important in you and which experiences will actually bring you forward. So last but not least, I want to re-emphasize that what us as UPF graduated graduates from 2025 learned in the last year is that all these doubts and uncertainties and worries are very normal. I think one of the least helpful things anyone at the graduation ceremony is to um to tell you is to pretend what comes next is straightforward forward and obvious. What I can tell you today is that the uncertainty you may feel in the weeks and month ahead is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It shows the huge step you actually had to take in the last year by working for your masters and by successfully finishing your master's degree. um you took you actually um did something very important for yourself. Even if finding out what you comes after may be a little difficult sometimes. Some of the most important things you all have learned here will only make sense in a year from now and maybe more a year after that. So once again, congratulations and of course sincerely enjoy your celebrations today. Thank you very much. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you so much for your words both of you Juliana and V. And now we reach out one of the most anticipated moments of today's ceremony. We will now present the commemorative diplomas to the graduates of the class of 2026 from the master's programs of the department of political and social sciences. Master in governance director Carlos. Juan [applause] [applause] Carlos Master in Governance [applause] Master in Governance. >> [applause] [applause] >> Maximleian Friedick Luis Aitz [applause] Ombberto Jesus at Purua Salomon >> [applause] >> Mara Bankos, [applause] Davidid Kaspar Broel. [applause] It is Maria Compier, [applause] Anna Joel Howard, [applause] Hedging Hong, [applause] Camila Kibrov. >> [applause] >> Hiroto Kobayashi [applause] Taro Joren Baro [applause] Samuel Aron Luds, [applause] Alina Dimitrivna Masikova. [applause] Jane Maria Nielan, [applause] Zona Palova >> [applause] >> Sylvia Pari, [applause] Timon Ramaker [applause] >> [applause] >> Maria Isabel Ramos, Biones, [applause] [applause] Emiliano Robana, Haken Brew, [applause] Anna Samid, >> [applause] [applause] >> Mateos Gaglion, [applause] Felix Matias Shiao Bower board [applause] led [applause] Paul Sarah estordal [applause] >> [applause] >> Alisa is Lonina, [applause] Victoria Skilante. [applause] Ahmed Erin Tunai, [applause] >> Marik Vanil, [applause] Thank you very much. Merle Ver, [applause] Briana Amber James Wilson, [applause] Eonor Samura. Yeah. [applause] [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> Carlos, Master in Governance. [applause] We continue now with the graduates of the master in political philosophy. To present the commemorative diplomas, we invite Veronica Cavvenet to join us on stage. A round of applause for her. [applause] And now we invite the graduates of the master in political philosophy to come forward and receive their diplomas. We will start with Terrenia Martinez. [applause] Belina Varasa >> [applause] [applause] >> Angelie Day, [applause] >> Martin Sandy Erikson. [applause] Okay. Hannan Valid Hassan, [applause] William Shter Kinman. [applause] >> [applause] >> Linda Rosa Cook, [applause] Sophia Novo Sanchez, [applause] >> Antonio Paglioa, >> [applause] [applause] >> Elisa Ramos Canto [applause] [applause] Pondo Castillia [applause] >> [applause] >> Marti Sibila, [applause] Leonard Justice Stoers, [applause] Ricardo Tronati Yeah. [applause] Fraser Satland [applause and cheering] and Im Vanderbri. >> [applause] [applause] >> Veronica on behalf of coordinator of the master from political philosophy. [applause] Okay, so our next program is the research master in sociology and demography. Please welcome Jeiero Pasareta, coordinator of the program with a big round of applause. [applause] And we now invite the graduates of the research master in sociology and demography to receive their diplomas. We will start with Maya Lydia Berenret, [applause] Alice Batika, [applause] Amy Canthrine >> [applause] >> Pia Agneska Capetski, [applause] Julia Zadova [applause] Pera Karim, [applause] [applause] Melis, Cargles, [applause] Alles, Lasserero, Domal, >> [applause and cheering] >> Margarita Maria Mantini, [cheering] [applause] >> Alexandra McCriari [applause] Michelle Doping, [cheering] [applause] Lisa Escanu [applause] Fenia Martin Sha, [applause] >> Emily Sheffitzik, [applause] >> Fedria, Lilia, Sulivan, [applause] and Noami Tesseline. [applause] And now, please for all of you, a big round of applause to all these graduates and graduates that have crossed [applause] >> [applause] >> And thank you Jere Pasarita for being with us. A big round of applause for him. [applause] And now we conclude the presentation of this commemorative diplomas with the Arasmus Mundus European politics and society. Vaklav Havl jointed master program for this presentation. We invite to the stage Javier Ari coordinator of the Arasmus Mundus European politics and society. Baklav Havl jointed master program. A big round of applause for him. [applause and cheering] [applause] And here ready we now invite the graduates of the Arasmos Mundus European Politics and Society. Vaklav Havl joined master program to come forward and receive their commemorative diplomas. So we will start with Ludoviko Kuichi, [applause] Juliet Joel Herman, [applause] Shun Kuroda [applause] Claudia Labeka, [applause] >> Elina Lee [applause] and Hope Philpot. >> [cheering] [applause] >> And now as always I'm asking after all their presentation a big round of applause for all of them that today have graduated [applause] [cheering] [applause] department. [applause] So every graduating has uh yeah each classroom and the class has its own story. A story built through lectures, deadlines, friendships, challenges, and achievements. Today, four graduates that are ready will share a few words on behalf of the entire class of 2026. They will represent them. Although each of them represents a different master program, their reflections speak to an experience that many of you have shared during all this course and time at University Pompeo Fabra. Purua. [applause] Good evening graduates, faculty, and family. It's an honor to speak on behalf of the master and governing class of 2026. I would like to start off with a quote from the US President Abraham Lincoln that feels especially urgent in our current times. The ballot is stronger than the bullet. That simple idea reminds us that democracy is not sustained by force, fear, or silence, but by active participation, choice, and the courage to believe that public life, public service can still be shaped through peaceful means. Today, as we close this chapter in our lives, that message feels more important than ever before. We are faced in a world where democracy is under threat, where polarization, disinformation, and authoritarian temptations can make public life feel more fragile and uncertain. But that is exactly why this moment matters. Democracy doesn't survive because it's perfect. The UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill said as much. It survives because it's the best system we have created so far and people still choose to defend it. Over this past year, we have learned not only from our professors but from one another. We have debated, questioned, disagreed, and grown as persons. In doing so, we have developed skills that extend beyond the classroom. How to listen seriously, think critically and act responsibly. These are not only academic skills. These are democratic ones. For me, this carries a personal meaning. As a Venezuelan, I see how democratic institutions can collapse and how public trust can implode. Venezuelan reminds us that democracy is fragile, but it also reminds us that society is not powerless. Even in moments of crisis, including the recent double earthquakes that hit my country, we see neighbors helping neighbors, families supporting one another, and communities stepping forward when it matters the most. This is where hope in society lives in the decision that good people act together. And that is the lesson I want to leave today is that democracy is not only a system of government. It is a habit of solidarity. It depends on people who reject cynicism, who believe public service and public life can be improved and who are willing to do the work to make our world and our societies a better place. That is why Presidents Lincoln's other words still also resonate today. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Democracy is not also about institutions but about whether those institution remain connected to the people they currently serve. Margaret me the American cultural anthropologist once said something that is important to highlight for our generation. Never doubt a small group's thoughtful committed thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world. Indeed is the only thing that has ever had. It is a hopeful message but also a demanding one. It asks us as citizens as our group today to be thoughtful, committed and ready to serve. So as we leave this program, let us do it with gratitude that what we have shared and with confidence of what we can still build tomorrow. This is not just a room of graduates. We are citizens, future leaders, and participants in an ongoing work of democratic stability. The future will demand much more of us. But if we carry forward with what we have learned here today, clarity, responsibility, and solidarity, we will be ready for the future of tomorrow. Thank you, and congratulations to the class of 2026. [applause] Thank you so much Ombberto for sharing your experience. And now we invite Fraser Sutherland representing the master in political philosophy to come to the stage. [cheering] [applause] >> I haven't even spoken yet and you given me that. Wow. Gracias. My name is Fraser Southerntherland. I would have done it in Catalan, but my mom and dad are watching, so I'll have to stick to English. I will start with a bit of housekeeping, though. I've learned a lot of things this year. But one of the things is that Australian accents can be quite challenging. And if you haven't picked up on it yet, I have one. So, as I try my best to speak clearly, uh, avoid slang and not abbreviate, please don't second guessess your English skills if you can't understand me. Uh it's great to share the day with classmates, friends, family, and those from other courses. And given you're also here, I'll avoid the uh philosopher stereotype of thinking that philosophy only can save the world. Still, I ought to mention our experience of political philosophy. And to do so, I will bring up, of course, the great Barcelona player and coach Johan Kra, who once said, "You play football with your head." And I think you can say a similar thing about political philosophy. We have used our heads. Oh, be clapping. Oh, that's [applause] it all goes downhill from here. Um, uh, we've questioned lots of things, uh, this year. We've challenged many things such as the grades of philosophy, our professors, of course, each other, and we've challenged ideas. Some of these include belonging in different countries, uh, nationalism and nation states. But it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the incredible experience it has been sharing this masters with classmates from a diverse set of countries and continents with Catalonia being our meeting place. Each of us have brought a piece of ourselves and our culture while we have found a new place to call home and thanks to our Catalina mix for welcoming us. But moving in a slightly different direction and I didn't come up with a nice segue here. So I'm just going to go for it. I when I was asked to uh do this speech, I did a bit of a Google and I saw that in the United States there are all these uh tech bros sort of talking about how telling graduates how they're all going to lose their jobs because the societyy's going that way. Again, I've learned a lot this year, but not enough to make accurate predictions about the future. But what I do know is that whatever the future looks like, uh our degree and our experience here has equipped us to view the world with the necessary critique and imagination to affect the future. a comfort and excitement to take on challenges in a world that may not be so comfortable. And what a group of people sitting here to go and take this on. I was walking home from university the other day, I guess a few weeks ago now. We've been done for a bit and I thought, "Ah, I think they're going to do some pretty cool stuff." And I was sort of just thinking, "Oh yeah, I think this person's going to do that." You can ask me later what I actually thought about you. Um, so I'm really excited for what's ahead of all of you. And yeah, as long as you don't enter the philosopher Robert Nosik's experience machine, I have great hopes for all of you in the future. So before I get too tempted to break my promise about not talking about how philosophy is going to save the world, I want to thank the university, our teachers, the broader student cohort, um, and of course our classmates. It's been an awesome ride. Some of us will part ways, and I don't know for which of you it will be a see you later or a goodbye. I hope it's a see you later, but I wish you all the best. Gracias. Thank you. [applause] Thank you so much for these amazing words. [applause] Research Master in Sociology and Demography. Margarita Maria Machini. [applause] Good morning everyone and thank you so much for being here. So I need to be honest with you. I had a bit of a hard time figuring out what I am to say in these three minutes. First I really didn't want to talk about my own experience before because I mean if you ask each and every of my classmates we would all have something very different to say today. And I really also didn't want to speak on behalf of us all for the exact same reason. So I had a bit of a puzzle. Uh then I just I I don't know. I just thought that I could share a thought with you. Something we don't have to all agree about. It's just something I feel that I learned from this year uh with you and especially from our discussions in class. Maybe it's just something we can think about and maybe discuss together. So as the name itself says the research master in sociology and demography is focused on research. So during this year we really had to think about what research is what it means and also about what research is not. Well I came to understand that social science research is in its soul political. But don't get me wrong I I don't mean political in the superficial and practical sense. So I don't mean polit politically oriented and I don't mean politically managed. It's political in its soul. In its soul because it's concerned to understand through different lenses and perspectives how human beings come together to form a society. And I think that first and foremost it's political because it has to do with choices. A research question is a choice. Uh an hypothesis is a choice. And we took a lot of those choices during this year. And um and those choices what where where do they come from? They come from internal motives sometimes from the wish to try at least try and uh make the world a better place through knowledge. And so I I can see how in a world where everything that is openly political is tending towards what we call the postru area. So I'm talking about politics itself and the press itself. So it's really something we want to distance oursel from and we want an alternative and probably the search for that alternative is why we chose this master in the first place. But then I also think how many times in class did we feel even outraged by very well done peer reviewed research just because of how the question was posed just because we didn't feel represented from how the hypothesis was made for example and then this may seem like the flaw of research like it's greatest um defect somehow but maybe it's not maybe we really just have to look at it from a slightly different perspective. Maybe it's not the limit of research itself. Maybe it's a strength on the other side. And so we understood that research is not really about looking at reality in an unbiased way because biases are always there. It's not about the objectivity in data. It's about understanding the conditions under which those data can be interpreted. And so it's really about interpretation and clearly stating its limits. And this limitations part is maybe what we can call the ethics of academic research. And I really think it's something that we can teach to a lot of other dissemination communities out there in the world. So maybe we should try to come together and accept this positive and this proactive role in society as researchers and we can go out there and propose it and teach it and defend it and challenge it somehow and not just choose this alternative for ourselves. Take it out there and um even if nobody asks us to do so. And so maybe we just need to accept that purposes knowledge is a knowledge at the end and it doesn't serve anybody and that research is in its soul political and I really hope that we will succeed. Thank you. Thank you everybody. [applause] Mas gracias Margarita. And finally, we invite Claudia, Claudia, Labeka, and Elina Labold representing the Arasmus Mundus European Politics and Society. Please, a big round of applause. [applause] Hello everyone. It's amazing how much life can fit into two years, especially when you're constantly on the move and move country every five months. This wasn't just a degree. So there's people that do Arasmos and then there's us, the ones who looked at studying abroad and asked themselves like why only study in one country? Why why not do three? Over the past two years, our cohort has studied and lived in Prague, Leiden and Barcelona. Three cities and three cultures. All the eight of us chose the same track which led us to the same cities, the same classrooms, and the same late night conversations that we are still processing. It's hard to remember how life was before this. Prague gave us the foundation. We found our footing as students, discovered the city, and got to know each other. And to be honest, the affordable beer didn't hurt either. It [snorts] was the kind of city that makes you feel like a student in the best possible sense. Leiden brought a change of pace. Cheap beer became a distant memory. Instead, we spend our time with studying supply and demand graphs and try and tried to understand how economics actually worked. But it also gave us something more lasting. inspiring professors, rigorous thinking, and the space to specialize in what we were the most passionate about. And then there was Barcelona. And if we're being honest, it is what we've all been looking forward from the start. Between the beach, the sun, the sunshine, and the city itself, it would have been easy to lose focus. But UPF made sure we didn't. The research methods and tools we gained here proved invaluable, especially for our master thesis, which I think most of us can agree were both the hardest and most rewarding things that we produced during this program. This masters has given us something rare. Interdisciplinary knowledge, a deep understanding of EU institutions and policym and the skills to engage with the political, economic and social challenges facing Europe today. Several of us also had the opportunity to to attend the Brussels policy seminar and the Oxford spring school organized by Odopee which offered valuable practical insights from policy makers and academics. Beyond academics, it gave us new languages, new cultures and new friendships across borders. There are people we must thank. Professor Argi, the program coordinator at UBF, who always looked after us and brought EU public policy closer to us. Professor Felder Stint, who changed the way we thought about research methods and theory. Professor Schneider, whose classes gave us a much deeper understanding of social policy and the welfare state. Professor Ang, who really dedicated hours of her time to look through our thesis drafts and whose feedback made our work so much better. And lastly to Shavi and Miriam who kept everything running smoothly behind the scenes. We closed this chapter and opened the next with real excitement. Some of us heading into research, others into policym, others even continue their studies. All of us shaped by those two years. Whatever comes next, we carry this with us. The cities, the lessons and the people. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] [cheering] >> [applause] >> Thank you so much, Claudia Elina. Thank you so much for your words. Your words remind us that university education is much more than earning a degree. It's about the people we meet, the ideas we exchange, and the impact we hope to make in the world. So, thank you so much to all of you for being here and for having created these moments so special of this graduation. Thank you so much. A big round of applause for all of you. [applause] >> [applause] >> So, as today's ceremony draws to a close, we would like to leave you with one final message. Today, we are celebrating your achievements. But above all, we have celebrate the beginning of a new chapter. Whatever path you choose from now on, we hope that the knowledge, values, and friendships you have built in at University Pompeo Fabra will continue to accompany you. Auditory director. Interpretch. >> [snorts] >> Gracias. [applause] [singing] [music] Now [singing] [music] you [singing] [music] know [singing] [music] Everything. [music and singing] The moon [singing] [music] [singing and music] [music] is there. [singing] [music] >> [singing] >> Hallelujah. [music] A proa [singing and music] [singing] singing. [music] [singing] [music] Heat. [applause] [music]