Our universities have been experiencing a deep crisis for decades. This is debated between its critical function - as an entity that promotes cultural, scientific and rigorous dialogue capable of providing new possibilities - and its adaptive function, which responds effectively to market demands, providing standardized and functional training, sometimes questioned. How to deal with this dilemma? How to address the challenges that the 21st century presents to us? After a lifetime dedicated to university teaching, Julieta Piastro and Victor Cabré try to answer these questions and invite us to reflect on the essential aspects that, according to them, should make up the pillars of the university today. They advocate for an institution that preserves its transformative social function and continues its work as a reference in the production of knowledge, training the professionals of the future, without being tempted by fashions or the demands of the market. A university that truly responds to the needs of its time.