Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials - ICPS

What Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials - ICPS does

Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials (ICPS) is a Barcelona-based research and educational institute constituted as a public consortium between the Diputació de Barcelona and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). It serves graduate students, political and communications professionals, Catalan municipal officials, and academic researchers, primarily within Catalonia, Spain.

The institute's offering spans three lines: (1) graduate and continuing education — most prominently the Màster en Marketing Polític (MMP, 24th edition, 2026-2028) and the Postgrau d'Anàlisi i Comunicació Política (19th edition, 2026-2027), plus specialized courses in feminist political theory, institutional governance communication, and municipal government, several co-branded with UAB; (2) public opinion research — the annual Sondeig d'Opinió Catalunya, with an integrated longitudinal database covering 1991-2023 and a 2025 wave released for free statistical exploitation; and (3) publications and policy tools — Quaderns ICPS working papers, scholarly books such as 'La reacció neomasclista', the annual Memòria d'Activitats, and the 'Què m'he de preguntar?' gender perspective assessment tool for Catalan municipalities hosted at igualtat.icps.cat. Technology is conventional (standard web stack plus Google Analytics), and there are no disclosed proprietary AI or ML systems.

The business model is tuition/fee-based recurring education revenue from program cohorts, supplemented by institutional funding from its two public consortium backers. Distribution is regional and direct: pre-registration via the institute's trilingual website (Catalan, Spanish, English), with light social media presence on Twitter and Facebook. ICPS operates with approximately 20 employees, no disclosed funding rounds, no M&A history, and no venture capital ownership — consistent with a mission-driven, publicly anchored organization rather than a scaling commercial entity.

Name

Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials - ICPS

Legal name

Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials

Website

https://icps.es

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ICPS is a Barcelona-based public consortium between the Diputació de Barcelona and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, offering graduate programs in political marketing and analysis, annual public opinion surveys on Catalonia, and policy tools for municipal governments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education and Political Science Research

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Education (EDADALAD)

Keywords

• Political science education
• Opinion polling research
• Political marketing training
• Public governance courses
• Academic publications

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Educational Programs: Revenue from graduate programs, master's degrees, postgraduate courses, and specialized courses in political science, marketing, and governance.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

ICPS is a public research-education consortium that delivers graduate-level academic programs (Master's in Political Marketing, Postgraduate in Political Analysis and Communication, and various specialization courses) and conducts recurring public opinion research on Catalonia, most notably the Sondeig d'Opinió Catalunya survey and its integrated longitudinal database (1991-2023). It also publishes academic working papers and operates a tool for integrating gender perspective into municipal public policies.

Product overview

ICPS is an educational and research institute (consortium between Barcelona Provincial Council and Autonomous University of Barcelona) offering a portfolio of academic programs and research services. The core offerings include: (1) Master's programs such as the Màster en Marketing Polític (MMP), (2) Postgraduate programs including Political Analysis and Communication, (3) Specialized short courses covering Feminist Political Theory, Institutional Governance Communication, and Municipal Government, (4) Research publications including Quaderns ICPS working papers and books, and (5) Public opinion research services featuring the annual Sondeig d'Opinió Catalunya survey and an integrated opinion database (1991-2023). The institute also provides supplementary tools like a gender perspective assessment tool for Catalan municipalities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Màster en Marketing Polític (MMP) A master's degree program in political marketing, training students in political communication, electoral strategy, and campaign management; aimed at professionals and graduates pursuing careers in political communication in Catalonia and Spain. Directed by Oriol Bartomeus.
• Postgrau d'Anàlisi i Comunicació Política A postgraduate program focused on political analysis and communication, including political discourse and media strategies; aimed at professionals in political analysis and communication.
• Curs de Lectures de Teoria Política Feminista A specialized course on feminist political theory readings, examining feminist political thought; aimed at students and professionals interested in feminist political theory.
• Curs de Governança i Comunicació Institucional A specialization course on governance and institutional communication, offered in collaboration with the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB); aimed at public administrators and institutional communication professionals.
• Curs de Govern Municipal i Gabinet d'Alcaldia A specialized course on municipal government and mayor's office coordination, training public administration personnel; aimed at officials and technical staff in municipal government.
• Sondeig d'Opinió Catalunya An annual public opinion survey on political and social attitudes in Catalonia, produced as a research output with results and reports published on the ICPS website.
• Base de Dades Integrada Sondeig d'Opinió Catalunya 1991-2023 An integrated longitudinal database of Catalonia public opinion surveys from 1991 to 2023, freely accessible for statistical analysis after user registration.
• Quaderns ICPS An ICPS publication series featuring academic working papers and analyses on political topics, with individual issues downloadable from the website.
• Eina "Què m'he de preguntar?" A gender perspective assessment tool designed to support Catalan municipalities in incorporating the gender perspective across all their policies; hosted at igualtat.icps.cat.
• Memòria d'Activitats ICPS (Annual Activity Report) An annual report documenting the institute's research, teaching, and publication activities for the year.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Diputació de Barcelona (DIBA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDIBA is a founding consortium member of ICPS, providing institutional support and funding as a public institution representing the province of Barcelona.
• Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUAB is a founding consortium member of ICPS, providing academic affiliation and institutional credibility as a major public university in Catalonia.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs): CIDOB is a Barcelona-based think tank producing policy analysis and research on international affairs, governance, and security. It is directly comparable to ICPS as a Catalonia-based research institution publishing analysis on political and social topics, with overlapping academic and policy audiences.
• Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales (CEPC): CEPC is a Spanish government-affiliated center for political and constitutional studies, producing academic research, journals, and books. It is directly comparable to ICPS in offering political science research and publication output, though operating at the Spanish national level rather than the Catalan regional level.
• Institut d'Estudis Catalans: The Institut d'Estudis Catalans is a public research corporation dedicated to Catalan studies across sciences, humanities, and social sciences. It is directly comparable to ICPS as a Catalonia-focused academic research institution producing scholarly publications and analysis on Catalan social and political topics.
• Universitat de Barcelona (UB) - Faculty of Political Science: UB's political science faculty offers undergraduate and graduate programs in political science and public administration. It is directly comparable to ICPS as a Barcelona-based political science education provider, competing for the same regional student and researcher pool.
• Fundació Carles Pi i Sunyer: This Barcelona foundation conducts research and training on local government and urban policy. It is directly comparable to ICPS in offering training programs for municipal officials and producing applied research on Catalan local governance, with overlapping customer segments.
• Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) - Department of Political and Social Sciences: UPF's political and social sciences department offers undergraduate and graduate programs in political science and sociology. It is directly comparable to ICPS as a Barcelona-based academic institution providing political science education and research in the same geographic market.
• IBEI (Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals): IBEI is a Barcelona-based institute offering master's programs in international affairs and conducting policy research. It is directly comparable to ICPS in combining graduate political science education with research output in the same Barcelona market and similar academic positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Sciences Po: Sciences Po is a leading French political science institution offering graduate programs in political science, communication, and governance. It is broadly comparable to ICPS as a political science and political marketing education provider, but operates at much larger scale and international scope.
• Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS): CIS is the Spanish government's official public opinion research center, conducting monthly national opinion polls. It is broadly comparable to ICPS in conducting regular public opinion polling and publishing trend analyses, but operates at the national level with a much larger mandate and resource base.

Others

• Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) - Department of Political Science: UAB's political science department is the academic partner in ICPS's consortium, providing affiliated degree programs and academic infrastructure. It is comparable to ICPS as a Barcelona political science education provider and serves as the academic anchor for ICPS's graduate program offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/icpscat
• Facebookfacebook.com/icpscat
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/institut-de-ci%C3%A8ncies-pol%C3%ADtiques-i-socials---icps

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials - ICPS