Barcelona attracts foreign talent in a city seeing increased prominence in higher education.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

Barcelona’s research efforts show success as Spanish higher education struggles

Surely few laboratories can match the views from Barcelona Biomedical Research Park on the city’s busy beachfront.

From the sun-dappled balconies of the modernist €120 million ($138 million) institute, scientists can watch boats sail out from the Olympic Port, swimmers take a dip in the Mediterranean and tourists zip along the seafront promenade on motorized scooters.

“It’s a wonder we get any work done at all,” joked Angel Lozanos, vice president of research at Pompeu Fabra University, on the view from the institute, which was established by the university alongside Barcelona City Council and the Catalan government in 2006.

But plenty of work has been done at the institute, which celebrates its 10th anniversary later this month. About 1,500 staff from seven independent research organizations are based at the institute, which has become one of the largest biomedical research centers in southern Europe, producing 1,130 scientific publications last year, double its 2006 total.