UPF excels in research and international orientation in the U-Multirank
In the sixth edition of this multidimensional classification promoted by the EU, Pompeu Fabra ranks in 23rd place among European universities. Following a comprehensive approach, it is the university within the Spanish state with the most indicators scoring the highest rating (‘A’), with fourteen.
U-Multirank has published the results of the sixth edition of its ranking (2019-2020), which evaluates 1,711 universities from 96 countries around the world (22 more than in the previous edition), including more than 5,153 faculties and more than 12,500 study programmes in 24 subject areas.
In the list of the best universities in Europe, from a total of 1,005 institutions, UPF appears in 23rd position and is second in the Spanish state, behind the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (20th) and ahead of the University of Barcelona (77th). The list is topped by Queen Mary University of London, the Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Newcastle in the UK.
In the list of the best European universities, UPF appears in 23rd position, second in the Spanish state
The ranking includes five dimensions related with university activities: Teaching and learning, Research, International orientation, Regional engagement, and Knowledge transfer. Its multidimensional approach compares the performance of the institutions through a series of indicators and classifies them in a ranking ranging from ‘A’ (very good) to ‘E’ (weak).
From a selection of the ten most important indicators (two for each dimension), Pompeu Fabra University gets an ‘A’ in the two indicators related to research (citations and impact of size-normalized publications), the two in international orientation (student mobility and international joint publications) and one of the two in regional engagement (regional joint publications).
The ranking includes an interactive map showing the 100 highest performing universities with the best results in the five dimensions. UPF is highlighted in research (the only institution in Spain to appear) and international orientation (on a national level, in addition to UPF is the ESIC Business & Marketing School of Madrid).
UPF gets the best score in the Spanish state following a comprehensive approach
Considering the total of 36 indicators established by the ranking, UPF gets the best results in Spain, with a total of 14 ‘A’s, one more than last year. Second, we find the University of Mondragon (12 ‘A’s); third, the University of Barcelona (11 ‘A’s), and fourth, Carlos III University and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, each with 10 ‘A’s.
The 14 ‘A’s achieved by UPF are distributed as follows among the five dimensions: five in Research (rate of citations, size-normalized research publications, external research income, top cited publications, and post-doc positions); three in International orientation (student mobility, international joint publications, and international doctorate degrees); three in Knowledge transfer (income from private sources, publications cited in patents, and income from continuous professional development); two in Regional engagement (master graduates working in the region and regional joint publications) and one in Teaching and learning (graduating on time).
A multidimensional approach to a personalized ranking
The user, from a multidimensional approach, can compose their own ranking based on the various indicators and dimensions. It is also possible to assess the activity of the universities as a whole or choose a discipline from among the 24 subjects that the ranking deals with. Thus, the list enables identifying the strengths and the weaknesses of the institutions, in connection with the aspects of greatest interest.
The data included in U-Multirank come from various sources: supplied by the institutions themselves, taken from bibliometric databases and international patents; from national databases; and from surveys on more than 100,000 students from the participating universities.
This project was conceived by the European Commission as a tool to evaluate universities’ activities on the basis of the criteria of the user, moving away from traditional “closed” rankings.