The Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (IEST) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) is one of the largest interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability oriented research institutes in Spain. It covers wide range of fields, including ecological economics, environmental sociology, earth system sciences, land use planning, life sciences, integrated assessment, environmental design, business environmental management, legal studies, education and communication studies and environmental information technologies. IEST brings researchers interested in integrating multiple sources of knowledge to deal with complex environmental and sustainability problems and participates in many international research networks. IEST doctoral programme on environmental sciences has been independently awarded for its high quality standards and attracts now over 80 PhD students from all over world.