The University of Rovira I Virgili (URV) is a nationally and internationally recognized teaching and research institution with centers in Tarragona, Reus, Vila-Seca, Tortosa, and El Vendrell.

University education did not return to the Tarragona area until the second half of the 20th century when three different paths converged to form the Universitat Rovira i Virgili: The Universitat Laboral (Technical College), created by the Ministry of Employment in 1956, started to teach technical courses for the first time in 1961–62 with specialties in mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering.

In 1971, the Universitat de Barcelona set up local branches of the faculties of Philosophy and Letters, and Sciences in the city of Tarragona.

Since then, the university has gradually increased the number of courses on offer by creating such new campuses as Sescelades and Catalunya in Tarragona, and Bellissens in Reus.

The CITEE's activity has its origins in the R&D and technology transfer carried out by the Department of Electronic, Electric, and Automatic Engineering since it was founded in 1993.

ATIC works on patents and transfer projects in the fields of biotechnology, the environment, fluid mechanics and health in conjunction with the national and international manufacturing sector.

AMIC is an innovation center of the Cidem IT Network that works to offer key-in-hand solutions to environmental and industrial problems occurring in the manufacturing sectors.

It also works on the synthesis of microporous and mesoporous materials such as zeolites, HMS, MCM, SBA, mesoporous cerium oxide, hydrotalcites, activated carbon, high surface area aluminum fluoride, different phases of aluminum oxide, and nanomaterials such as Ag, Au, Pt, Cu and Pd nanocubes and other morphologies.

The origins of the Centre lie in the research carried out by the group Organometallics and Homogeneous Catalysis (OMICH) of the URV's Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry.

METEOR belongs to the TECNIO d’ACC1Ó network of the Catalan Government and is involved in the following activities: - Research and development - Technology transfer - Courses The mission of TecnATox is to carry out research and development in the field of environmental protection in Europe and satisfy the needs of government and the manufacturing sectors through knowledge and technology transfer to improve health and the quality of life and protect the environment.

The Toxicology and Environmental Health Laboratory (LTSM) was founded in 1985 and, at present, is staffed by highly qualified research and technical personnel with considerable experience in the study, development, and industrial implementation of all the services.

TecnATox was one of the first research groups in Catalonia, Spain, and Europe to evaluate the risks to human health of exposure to environmental chemical agents.

The centre has the institutional support of ACC1Ó (Agency for the Innovation and Internationalization of Catalan Enterprise), the Universitat Rovira I Virgili and the Reus Town Council, as well as 14 representative companies from the sector.

Among the centre's priorities are research into new materials, water technology and the application of European environmental directives to the chemical industry.

In its session of 22 December 2005, the URV's Governing Council approved the creation of the centre in response to the quality of the research being undertaken.

Its research work focuses on the field of the science and engineering of new materials and their nanostructuration, and on their application to the design and development of micro and nanosystems.

It carries out scientific and technical projects, and channels the transfer of results to individuals and public and private institutions within the framework of the legislation in force.

From the department of Computer Engineering and Mathematics, CRISES[2] is one of the top European research group in the fields of information security and privacy.

To achieve this last objective, IISPV organizes a programme in research training and it has entered into collaboration agreements with health institutions and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili to share initiatives and resources.

There is a project underway to link the research and business activity that is taking place within the Tecnoparc, in Reus, to which the IISPV will contribute all of its human and technical potential.