- Universidad de las Américas Puebla is the only university outside the United Kingdom to have a licenciatura with an advanced accreditation.
The Licenciatura in Biology at Universidad de las Américas Puebla obtained the Advanced International Accreditation granted by the Royal Society of Biology, a leading professional organization in Biological Sciences in the United Kingdom, which grants this accreditation to educational institutions that make an outstanding contribution to the advancement of biological sciences.
“This is a five-year accreditation granted to UDLAP’s Licenciatura in Biology through the Honors Program of the Royal Society of Biology of the United Kingdom”, commented in an interview Dr. Martín Alejandro Serrano Meneses, faculty member of the Department of Chemistry and Biology at UDLAP and the person in charge of the accreditation process. He explained that this accreditation was obtained through the honors program, as one of the criteria to earn it is that students have experience in research. “…the students who have done research are part of the Biology Honors Program”, stated the UDLAP professor.
He pointed out that Universidad de las Américas Puebla is the only university outside the United Kingdom to have a licenciatura program with an advanced accreditation. “There is no licenciatura program in the world outside of the United Kingdom to have earned an advanced accreditation, since one must remember that the Royal Society of Biology has two types of accreditations, one that is normal and an advanced one. In our case, we received the advanced accreditation because we met all the academic and quality research standards required by the Royal Society of Biology”, stated Dr. Martín Alejandro Serrano.
For his part, Dr. Eugenio Sánchez Arreola, academic director of the Department of Chemical Biological Sciences at UDLAP, explained that in order to receive this accreditation the university had to meet criteria which included conducting research and offering a quality study program; integration between teaching and research; proven practical experience in the lab and in the field; knowledge and understanding of research methodology; appropriate and clear evaluation criteria within the program; active and ample research; a faculty with renowned researchers recognized in the nation and abroad; ongoing research projects in labs; recorded achievements of the students at the end of their learning practices. “To grant this accreditation, the study programs and facilities were reviewed, including the library, labs, syllabus of each course, manuals, facilities, and quality of the faculty”, commented Dr. Eugenio Sánchez.
By achieving this type of accreditation, both the university and its students and graduates acquire benefits in two areas. An international accreditation for UDLAP and international accreditation for its students and graduates. In the former, the most prestigious is the accreditation that was given to the university, with an international branding of “good practices”, which allows it to be compared with other top-quality universities and guarantees employers that its graduates have adequate skills and knowledge. In the latter, students and graduates have greater perspectives to be employed and are more competitive in the global work market. In addition, graduates receive a free subscription to the Royal Society for a year after graduation, which will expose them to an important network of biosciences professionals and will keep them updated in topics related to biology. “This accreditation will bring great benefits to UDLAP, because it means that we meet international criteria and have outstanding quality students”, said the academic director of the Department of Chemical Biological Sciences at UDLAP.
It is important to note that the Licenciatura in Biology at Universidad de las Américas Puebla has been taught for over 20 years, and that it was one of the first programs offered at the School of Science. This licenciatura has other great accomplishments, such as the fact that its graduates have earned graduate degrees at leading universities abroad.