The Rovira i Virgili University (URV) is located 100 km south-west of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia. During the last two decades has opened centres in multiple locations with its main campuses being in Tarragona and Reus. The URV has 14,260 students in all areas of knowledge across 59 bachelor’s degrees, 53 master’s degrees (including 2 Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degrees) and 25 different doctoral programs (42% of whose students are international). The URV incorporates a teaching model articulated around five axes: innovation, mainstreaming, internationalization, employability and social commitment. The URV chooses a transparent, participatory and inclusive governance model, where its community feels involved in decision-making. The URV employs 2134 academic and research staff (10% international and 56% part-time professionals) and 717 administrative and service staff. Its total regular budget is €109.2 million, which is complemented by a further €25.7 million obtained for competitive and non-competitive research projects and €5.7 million to carry out R&D projects and services for different companies. The impact of the URV’s scientific production is reflected by its 1,399 publications on the Scopus/Web of Science in 2018 alone, of which 51% were co-produced with international partners, by the 200 doctoral theses defended each year and by its presence in ten areas of excellence in the Essential Science Indicators. The special emphasis that the URV places on research allows it to play a leading role in the regional development and to act as a driving force for sustainable development and economic and social innovation, while supporting emerging research areas.