The current Faculty of Computer Science is the product of several decades of research and teaching in computer science, an area where the Complutense University of Madrid was a pioneer in Spain.

At the start of the 1950s there was already a UCM research group in close collaboration with groups from the University of Cambridge (UK) and Harvard University (USA). These groups carried out projects where they were developing what we now know as computer science. In 1954, as a result of these connections, our university created the “Electronic Differential Analyser”, the first computer constructed in Spain. In 1959, thanks to UCM professors, Spain formed part of the germinal core of the “International Federation of Information Processing” (IFIP).

In the 1960s, the first postgraduate courses in the field of computer science were created. These courses were internationally recognised under the UNESCO sponsorship. Meanwhile, the Data Centre was created at UCM in 1966. It was the first centre of its kind to be located at a Spanish university. It was an avant-garde institution that drove research, application and practical education of computer science beyond the university community.

At the start of the 1970s, years before the creation of Spain’s first Faculty of Computer Science, the Complutense University became the first Spanish university to formally introduce degree-level computer science studies. So, the Boletín Oficial del Estado of 18 April 1970 included the Order to create the “Automatic Calculation” speciality in the Mathematics and Physics Sections of the Faculty of Sciences and the study plan was approved. For over 20 years, UCM generated a continuous flow of graduates specialising in computer science through these courses, and these graduates went on to the most important companies in a fast-growing sector.

On 27 September 1991, UCM created the School of Computer Science which meant that the studies of Engineering in Computer Science, Technical Engineering in Computer Management and Technical Engineering in Computer Systems were introduced for the 1991-92 academic year. In April 2000, the School of Computer Science became named the Faculty of Computer Science.

After its creation, the centre was provisionally located in different spaces offered by both the University itself and by the Faculties of Biological Sciences, Physics, Geology and Mathematics. In March 2003, the Faculty moved into its own building on the Campus Moncloa.

Three new undergraduate degrees were implemented from the 2010-11 academic year within the European Higher Education Area, which complied with the specifications of the University Council Agreement (BOE of 4 August 2009) about official degrees in the field of Technical Computer Engineering. The three degrees provide direct access to the Master’s in Computer Engineering. These degrees are: Computer Science Engineering, Computer Engineering and Software Engineering.

José M. Mendías

Go to The University during the Democratic Transition and Consolidation

Go to the Faculty of Computer Science