History

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science was founded in 2015 as a result of the integration of the Department of Algebra and Geometry, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Analysis, and the Department of Probability, Logic and Statistics. This integration was carried out in an attempt to strengthen the synergies amongst the previous departments and enhance the mainstreaming of the contents.

Since its inception, Mathematics has always been at the forefront of Universitat de Barcelona. The Chair in Mathematics and Astrology was launched within the Faculty of Arts during the first half of sixteenth century. Upon the establishment of the physic-mathematical section of the Faculty of Exact Sciences, Physics and Naturals in the nineteenth century, the studies of mathematics began to take a more structure shape.

A number of momentous events for the history of the department took place during the twentieth century. The library of Mathematics was launched in 1928. Twenty years later, in 1947, the first series of Seminars on Mathematics was conducted, and the first issue of the journal Collectanea Mathematica was published in 1948. The first computational center was created in 1968.

The Faculty of Mathematics was born in 1974. The Faculty of Mathematics is one of the five faculties in which the Faculty of Sciences (1957-73) was divided into: Physics, Chemist, Geology, Biology and Mathematics. The Faculty of Mathematics has always been located in the Historic Building; namely, around the yard of sciences.

From 2003 until 2015, the Faculty of Mathematics was divided into three departments: the Department of Algebra and Geometry, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Analysis, and the Department of Probability, Logic and Statistics. During the plenary meeting held on the 19^th of June, 2015, the Faculty informed the General Secretary of the Universitat de Barcelona about its desire to integrate the three departments into a single one: the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. The petition for a new department was approved by the Council of the Universitat de Barcelona on the 27^th of January 2016. Three months later, on the 28^th of April 2016, the current Head of the Department, Dr. Laura Costa, was appointed.

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is responsible for coordinating the teaching activities in a number of areas at Universitat de Barcelona, such as Algebra, Mathematical Analysis, Architecture of Computers, Computation and Artificial Intelligence, Didactics of Mathematics, Statistics and Operative Research, Geometry and Topology, Languages and Informatics Systems, Logic and Philosophy of Science, Applied Mathematics and related areas. The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is made up of over 110 lecturers (approximately 70 of which are full-time and permanent lecturers).