The Student Recreation Centre (CALUM) of the Universitat Politècnica de València answers a long-standing need of UPV students: a place of their own where they can meet and feel represented. It is a space for work and leisure, run by students and for students, and shaped by what most of them want.
You will find it in building 4K on the Vera Campus (Camí de Vera s/n, 46022 València). Come here to study, meet, rehearse, play, organise activities or simply spend time between classes.
The building
The building was designed and built specifically for this purpose. It covers 5,200 m² on four floors plus a basement, arranged around three large terraces. Each floor has its own theme:
- Basement: music and bikes (piano room, rehearsal room, bicycle parking and the Generación Espontánea workshop cages).
- Ground floor: leisure (Information Desk, leisure and games area).
- First floor: study (silent study room, computer room, associations room, Sala de Grados and Social Lounge).
- Second floor: work (Sala Ximo Mora, Sala de Grados, meeting room and Las Peceras).
- Third floor: student representation (Student Council, administration and the Boardroom).
The whole building has Wi-Fi internet access. See the full description of every space under Facilities and check the opening hours.
Who runs the Student Recreation Centre
The Student Recreation Centre is run by the UPV Student Council (Consejo de Estudiantes de la UPV, CEUPV), under the Vice-Rectorate for Students and Entrepreneurship (VEE, vee@upv.es). Technical and administrative management is on the third floor, and the Information Desk on the ground floor answers any question Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 21:00.
UPV student associations are based on the first floor; see Associations to find out which ones and how to set up a new one. If you have an idea for an activity, every academic year the call for activities offers funding for it.
Contact details, phone numbers and how to get here: Contact.
The UPV Student Council (CEUPV)
The CEUPV is the highest body of student representation at the UPV and brings together representatives from every school and faculty. It defends students’ rights, takes their concerns to the university’s governing bodies and coordinates activities, proposals and services for the student community.
Its offices are on the third floor of the Student Recreation Centre. If you have questions or a problem with your studies, or a suggestion about university life, drop in and talk to the CEUPV team: they are there to help. As the team is made up of students who volunteer their time, there are no set office hours, but you will usually find someone in.
If nobody is in, email ceupv@upv.es or see the CEUPV contact page (opens in a new tab). The Council’s website also has news, the regulations that affect you as a student, and tools such as a tuition cost simulator and a scholarship finder.
A bit of history
For years, UPV student representatives asked for a space where students could organise themselves and carry out their own projects and ideas. The Rector’s team took on that commitment and created the “Casa del Alumno” programme, which became a building of the students and for the students.
The Student Recreation Centre opened on 4 December 2003. The Rector at the time, Justo Nieto, described it as “a space unique in its conception and facilities across the whole European Higher Education Area”. It has been a hub of social life at the UPV ever since: in its first fifteen years it hosted more than 460 activities, including charity events, training, competitions and workshops.
Every 4 December we celebrate the anniversary of the Student Recreation Centre. Some milestones:
- 2013: reopening of the building on its tenth anniversary, with exhibitions and activities run by the associations.
- 2018: 15th anniversary.
- 2023: 20th anniversary, with a commemorative logo designed by student Marina Carrasco García, the 20th Anniversary exhibition, the planting of a commemorative tree by the south façade and the celebration events (see the full programme).
- 2024: 21st anniversary, remembered with the very first poster of the Centre.
All the celebrations are collected in the CALUM Anniversary series.
The name
From its opening until 2026 the building was called Casa del Alumno; that name still appears in the web address, in older documents and on social media. Its official name is now Casa del Estudiante (Student Recreation Centre), and we use CALUM as the short brand.
Other campuses
The Alcoi and Gandia campuses have their own Student Recreation Centres: CALUM Alcoi on Instagram, CALUM Alcoi on Facebook and Gandia Campus on Instagram.
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