Pompeu Fabra University has managed to remain among the 150 best universities in the world and first in Spain, according to the 2020 edition of the World University Rankings published by Times Higher Education (THE).

According to the sixteenth edition of the recently published rankings, UPF ranks 143rd world wide and 60th in Europe. Last year, the University was ranked 135th and 58th, respectively, the best results in its history.

 ”Despite the adverse environment and thanks to the efforts by the entire university community, UPF continues among the 150 best universities in the world”, affirms Jaume Casals, UPF rector.

With these results, the University has established its positive progress in the classification: in the 2010 edition UPF came 325th; 164th in 2014, while in the last three editions, it has come in the top 150 (140th in 2018, 135th in 2019, and now 143rd in 2020).

THE’s World University Rankings, which includes nearly 1,400 universities (200 more than in the previous edition) this year from 92 countries, is produced from a combination of thirteen indicators relating to five major areas of knowledge: teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), international outlook (7.5%) and industry income (2.5%).

UPF improves in research, international outlook and industry income

The University, which scored 57.8 points overall (half a point less than last year), has improved in the areas of research (from 39.1 to 40.1), international outlook (from 64.3 to 66.5), and industry income (from 42.4 to 44.5).

Regarding citations, UPF scores 94.4, slightly below last year, but still the area in which UPF stands out most, achieving 81st position in the world. In the last area, teaching, it obtained a score of 37.7 (40 last year).

Results at state and international level

Behind UPF, the only Spanish university among the top 150, come the Autonomous University of Barcelona (157th), the University of Barcelona (201-250 bracket) and the Autonomous University of Madrid and the University of Navarre (both in the 251-300 bracket).

This year’s ranking includes a total of 45 Spanish universities, seven more than last year. These figures make Spain the third European country for the number of universities appearing in the ranking, behind Great Britain and Germany, and tied with Italy.

Globally, the University of Oxford ranks first for the fourth consecutive year; California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has risen to second place, while the University of Cambridge has fallen from second to third place. Rounding off the top five, in order, are the universities of Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).