“The Master in Sustainable Development has allowed me to become familiar with all the transcendental aspects and elements of the climate crisis and the role that sustainability should play in the international community for years to come. Moreover, the internships at Viscofan have helped me see first-hand how the private sector can contribute to sustainable development goals through the energy transition, good governance and corporate social responsibility.”
Student of the Master in Sustainable Development 2020-2021
“Magnificent professors, luxury guests, and a quality and academic precision that is very difficult to surpass; all this makes the students end up being experts in the matter. We have analyzed sustainable development from a holistic approach, from the legal and political perspective, economic and social, including the role of companies. Personally, coming from International Relations, I have found my way here. It has been a journey that I would repeat a thousand times. “
Student of the Master in Sustainable Development 2020-2021
“CEI people are a team. When you arrive, with enthusiasm but disoriented, the staff welcomes you with open arms and gets down to supporting you, forming you and even you approve modelándote for the opposition work. That team consists of people of great personal and professional quality, the comprehensive time with the vicissitudes of the opposition and demanding to give your best performance. Approve the opposition depends on you, your effort and your resistance. CEI team ensures a solid infrastructure to achieve this goal. Expert on the system of the opposition, Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert is one of the most prestigious diplomatic career and advice mark turning points. Beside him, young diplomats and college coaches complete a unique training framework in Spain “.
Head of Service. Advisor in Department of European Affairs and G20. Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government
Preparation Course to Join the Diplomatic Corps (2011-2015)
“The Master in Sustainable Development has been a fantastic opportunity to know more in depth what sustainability itself means. It has provided us with the necessary knowledge to understand the severity of the current climate crisis, as well as give us the appropriate tools to face to her with a systemic and multidisciplinary vision. The internships are a great complement to finish this training, which has allowed us to apply and visualize the opportunities that the world of work will offer us once the Master is finished.”
Student of the Master in Sustainable Development 2020-2021
“After performing the course on the European Union I did my internship in Eurecat, within the Department of Public Programs. I totally recommend this experience because it helped me learn a lot about the development of public programs, and also allowed me to have a first approach to running the programs of the European Union.”
Internship at Eurecat
Ex student of Course on the European Union (2015-2016)
“I am from Syria where most people struggle to simply survive and are not able to think about how to live in a way that supports sustainability. When I first started studying the concepts of sustainability, I was frustrated because of the different conditions that the developed and developing countries face and the inequity of resources between them. I could not see how the practical solutions I was learning about could work in the actual hard conditions that people in my country face every day. However, when I began to understand more details about how we can save our planet, I started to be more optimistic about what is possible for all countries, including Syria.
Once I fully grasped the necessity of changing the way we live and the way we use the Earth’s resources I began to change my own lifestyle. I am aware now of each decision I take when I want to buy anything. I am also more sensitive to the issues that many people around the world face including access to clean water, education, decent work, and health care. Because of the program, I am committed to finding a career where I can be actively participate in achieving the 17 SDGs. When I began the program, I did not understand the importance of sustainable development. Now I am a passionate advocate for it.”
Student of the Master in Sustainable Development 2020-2021
“From 2008 to 2010 I was a student of the Institute of International Studies, where I successfully developed the course of accession to the Diplomatic Corps. CEI is currently the only center of a public nature which is in Spain where you can prepare access to the diplomatic corps. Each promotion diplomats are students of CEI, as the combination of training offered experiments ambassadors, diplomats and young teachers UB guarantee comprehensive training that explains the success of the center in recent years”.
Economist and career diplomat. Currently MEP ICV
Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps (2008-2010)
“The Master in Sustainable Development has far exceeded all my expectations, since it has managed, in a masterful way, to address the relevant aspects of the three fundamental pillars that compose it, such as Economic, Social and Environmental Development. At the same time, it has been able to integrate the current theory of International Law with the different fields and regimes related to the environment, going through a training in Circular Economy, among other relevant and current areas, without neglecting the practical aspect of how from the sector In private, relevant policies and strategies can be designed based on the basic principles of Sustainable Development to achieve the objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda. All the above has allowed me to consolidate the necessary knowledge to develop my TFM in project mode, within the company in which I work, adding value to the actions in pursuit of the achievement of the strategic objectives on sustainability.
I want to thank the CEI for offering this program, which has been characterized by the quality and demands that precede it, in addition to having a teaching staff endowed with vast knowledge on the subject, and with luxury guests, both from the private and public sectors experts in the practice of Sustainable Development.”
Student of the Master in Sustainable Development 2020-2021
“Unlike most candidates, when I enrolled on the preparation course at the CEI, I already had ten years of experience working as a jurist in international organisations and government institutions in Spain, but I had always wanted to be a diplomat. I quit my job and, thanks to the CEI, ultimately succeeded in joining the diplomatic corps. The preparation is unsurpassable, in terms of both the academic rigor and thoroughness of the preparation for the different exercises of the competitive examination and the personalised attention, constant support and facilities offered. I have no reservations in strongly recommending the CEI in Barcelona to prepare for a career in the diplomatic corps.”
Diplomat. Deputy Director of the Cabinet in the Union for the Mediterranean. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps (2009-2014)
“The Master in Sustainable Development has given me the bases that I lacked at a legal, social and economic level to be able to develop at a professional level in the field. Its content is complete, detailed, and understandable for those who come from other fields academic, so it is fully adapted to our needs. In addition, they seek synergies between students to enrich the knowledge provided. The attention received in relation to the TFM is very close and they are accessible, which helps to feel accompanied and open possibilities future work. Without a doubt I will miss the classes, the moments of discussion and mutual learning, but I finish it without having doubts that it fulfilled my expectations. Now a new stage begins. Wishing, therefore, to put the knowledge into practice acquired.”
Student of the Master in Sustainable Development 2020-2021
“A good experience and a good course that enabled me to get to Brussels through a competitive examination held by the Basque government to work in its foreign delegations and, from there, the European Commission (Home Affairs).”
Administration Assistant to Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU
Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps (2006-2008)
Diplomat
“I am very grateful to the CEI for the support provided during my preparation to join the Diplomatic Corps: I started the process in the face-to-face mode in Barcelona and finished it in the online mode, with many face-to-face sessions, from Madrid. I recommend preparing the CEI in the modality that best suits the candidate, since the CEI monitoring is continuous and personalized, adapting to the different needs required by the different stages of the opposition, from the first moments full of enthusiasm and learning to the final moments when the goal is close, but everything becomes more repetitive.
For more than 25 years, the CEI has been the only public centre to prepare the public exam to the diplomatic corps. It is located in an idyllic setting in the Finca Pere Pons, where all kinds of conferences of great interest on international relations are organized.
The CEI offers an exhaustive preparation of each exercise of the opposition and a syllabus prepared by professors from the different universities of Barcelona. And above all, it has a true team of preparers made up of diplomats from antiquities and very diverse profiles, other officials such as a State lawyer and a State economist, and an English teacher and a French teacher. This allows the candidate to obtain the visions and expectations of the different members of the opposition tribunal throughout their preparation.
Finally, I would like to especially thank His Excellency Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert and Elisabeth Rubio for their affectionate and unconditional support throughout the entire process, and express my admiration for having managed to make CEI, as well as a training centre of excellence as they demonstrate its results, a very special place from which I take great memories, and, above all, friendships for life.”
2016-2020, Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps
“I believe the internship was a very important input into my consular training. (…) My internship was an incredibly positive experience in every sense, both personally and professionally; I was sad to see it end and was left with a desire to go back, to bring everything I had talked about with my bosses and colleagues at the time to bear and to keep on learning.”
Internship at the Catalan Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Government
Ex student of Master in Diplomacy and International Public Service (2011-2012)
Diplomat
2017-2020
“Preparing the opposition to join the diplomatic corps is scary, even looking back after having overcome it. Although the illusion of the first weeks of study is never lost, the uncertainty that one feels from the beginning grows larger, as the Investment made – and therefore potentially “lost” – is gaining weight. No one can assure you that you will end up passing or promise that it will take a year or five. The CEI either.
However, the CEI can provide answers to other types of questions that may cause less anxiety, but more useful in your preparation: What is a good essay?, Is it possible to prepare an interview in which you can end up asking anything?, What kind of answers are appropriate in the language exam? For the oral presentation, it is better to bring a few topics each week, but prepare them in depth, or challenge yourself to give many quick laps to the agenda?
These are very difficult questions that every opponent faces at one time or another, and the answer to them is not unequivocal. For this reason, what I value most about the CEI compared to other preparation academies is its diversity: the opposition is an individual effort, but to be successful it is essential to build a solid network of support, it takes a village to raise a child. The CEI will give you access to very different tutors (mostly diplomats of different ages and backgrounds, but also State Attorneys, for example), whose strategy to pass will not always coincide, and although that will sometimes be frustrating, as a candidate you will soon realize that you must find your own unique way of dealing with the opposition, based on your strengths and weaknesses. All CEI staff and collaborators, starting with Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert, will appreciate your dedication and will be a fundamental support in times of greatest frustration and uncertainty.
And they will be the first to call you as soon as you pass, of course. They are a team and I assure you that they will feel your success as their own!”
Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps
“I did my internship in the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which offered me a great opportunity to learn in more detail how the organisation works and to do research on very interesting cases in Africa, where there are latent tensions and the role of the UN is key to development and improvement. More than a professional and academic experience, for me, witnessing different events such as the 67th General Assembly or the department’s different presentations of the operations to the Security Council were a major life experience.”
Made his internship at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the UN, New York
Ex student of Master in Diplomacy and International Public Service (2011-2012)
Diplomat
“The study of some public examinations such as those of the Diplomatic ones is one of those experiences that definitely mark the life of a person. That is why the choice of the academy in which to prepare them is so important, because not only the outcome depends on it, but also whether the experience is more or less pleasant and enjoyable.
In my case, I remember the first day I arrived at the CEI, when I had only a slight idea of what it was to be a diplomat and many questions that needed an answer. Luckily, the CEI team answered all my questions and I decided to undertake this adventure.
Once the decision is made, you experience another of the most important moments: the first oral exposition of topics. You are doubtful and nervous, with little command of the subjects and, again, a good dose of uncertainty. However, the affability and enormous wisdom of Ambassador Perpiñá-Robert are the necessary elements to instil security and confidence in the young candidates who have decided to study at the CEI.
From then on, the candidate begins to dominate each of the opposition exams thanks to the extensive training that the CEI offers. Thus, the preparation of the test, the interview and the singing is facilitated by the collaboration of numerous diplomats and other officials of the General State Administration with great knowledge about all areas of law, economics, cooperation for the development, history and international relations.
Likewise, the CEI counts on Kathryn O’Connor and Fernand Menier for the preparation of the languages exercise, two people with great experience, professionalism and passion for their work who offer comprehensive training to achieve a broad command of English and French.
Finally, I can say that the CEI is not only a place to prepare for the exams, but a great home in which personal relationships are created and developed that remain many years later. In this sense, I have to thank the Secretariat team and, especially, Eli Rubio, for having listened to all our problems and concerns throughout these years, for having resolved so many doubts and for having been so and so patient.
Based on all this, I encourage all those who are thinking of taking an examination to join the Diplomatic Corps to choose the CEI as a guarantee of success and as an unforgettable experience.”
2016-2020 Academic year Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps
“I decided to earn a master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Public Service for two reasons: my desire to reorient my career towards international organisations and the prestige of the CEI. I made the absolute right choice. The master’s programme allowed me to do an internship at the UNIDO in Vienna, where I was later hired as an international consultant for the Business, Investment and Technological Innovation Unit.”
Expert and evaluator at the European Comission
Ex student of Master in Diplomacy and International Public Service (2011-2012)
“My experience at the Center for International Studies in Barcelona could not have been more rewarding. From the first moment you land in the CEI, they explain in a clear and simple way the enormous work task involved in preparing the opposition to access the diplomatic corps, helping you to carry out a progressive planning of the study.
To do this, the CEI offers you an updated agenda of topics written by university specialists, complementing with diplomatic trainers, both young, recently admitted to the career; as veterans that are capable of contributing a mature and deep vision of international relations.
Lastly, I would like to especially thank the Hon. Ambassador Mr. Fernando Perpiñá-Robert, as tutor, his know-how during my preparation and the fact of always having a kind word in those moments when the preparation of the opposition can be done uphill. That is why, without a doubt, I would recommend the CEI as a center of excellence to successfully overcome the difficult challenge of becoming diplomat”.
Diplomat
Student of the Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps (2015-2019)
“During my internship as a young professional at the Spanish Embassy in the United States, I was able to accomplish the goals set by the master’s programme in Diplomacy and International Public Service, thanks to which I now have the skills required for the internship.”
Made her internship at the Spanish Embassy in the United States
Ex Student of Master in Diplomacy and International Public Service (2011-2012)
“I sincerely thank the entire CEI International Affairs team for the support given during these years of opposition, I came here somewhat disoriented, worried about the task that awaited me, and from CEI they offered me all the possible facilities to successfully fulfill my mission. Always with the best possible treatment, but at the same time with the necessary degree of demand, the preparation of the oppositions at CEI allows the opponent to progress gradually until reaching success. Approving depends on oneself and requires a lot of effort and discipline, but the tools that CEI puts at your disposal help you to achieve this without having to worry about superfluous aspects, focusing on what is really important.In addition, its location in Barcelona and its nature as a center linked to the Ministry are key factors for the CEI to be place to doubt a unique and unbeatable place to prepare the opposition”.
Legal adviser at the International Legal Advice, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
Preparation to Join the Diplomatic Corps (2014-2017)
“For some people, the internships offered through the master’s programme in Diplomacy and International Public Service were a means to get to know a different country, culture or nation, but for me they were even more. In this adventure offered by the CEI, I did not need to leave Barcelona to benefit from an experience that would teach me how to thrive in the professional world. This internship was a step forward in both my academic and professional training, affording me the opportunity to embark on a second field at a large company that is not only one of the most highly regarded banks in the industry, but also, and above all, one big family, Banc Sabadell.”
Operational Officer at JF Hillebrand Global Beverage Logistics. Made her internship at Banc Sabadell
Ex student of Master in Diplomacy and International Public Service (2011-2012)
E-Secretaria
Campus Virtual (Másteres)
Moodle