Times Higher Education (THE), which produces one of the most prestigious and influential university rankings in the world, has published the 2017 edition of the ranking of young universities 200 Under 50, which includes the top two hundred institutions worldwide under 50 years old.

In this sixth edition of the list, the first to include 200 institutions (there were 150 in the last edition, and previously, 100), UPF rates 17^th best young university in the world (last year it was 15^th), 10^th in Europe and 1^st in Spain.

The results of the ranking were published in the framework of the fourth edition of the meeting Times Higher Education Young Universities Summit, under the title “Disruptive, dynamic, distinctive: Young universities rising to the challenges of tomorrow”, held from 5 to 7 April 2017 at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia.

The universities of Catalonia, Spain and the world in the ranking

Other universities belonging to the Catalan university system listed in the classification are the Autonomous University of Barcelona (18^th position), Rovira i Virgili (position 76) and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (between 101 and 150).

State-wide, the Autonomous University of Madrid occupies 66^th position and the universities of the Basque country and the Polytechnic of Valencia are in the 101-150 band. A further eight universities from the rest of the State come in the 151-200 bracket of the ranking.

The first five positions of the general list, in this order, are held by the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland), the University of Science and Technology of Hong Kong, the Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), the Pohang University of Science and Technology, and the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, both in South Korea.

The countries with the most universities in the ranking are the United Kingdom, followed by Australia, France, Germany and Spain. In the first 20 positions, there are 14 European institutions and 6 from Asia.

UPF score in the various indicators

This year’s edition uses the same thirteen indicators of performance as in past editions, but this time they have been readjusted to give less weight to reputation.

UPF, which scored an overall mark of 56.9, stands out especially in the indicators of Impact of citations (the extent to which an institution’s publications are referenced by other academics) with 93.1 points (5^th position in the world); and International outlook (international students and faculty that the university is capable of attracting and the extent to which the institution publishes articles with other foreign universities), with 65.1 points (67^th in the world). In the three remaining indicators, it obtained a score of 40.5 for Industry income; 42.4 for Research, and 34.5 for Teaching.

This summit, which was held at UPF last academic year in the framework of celebrations to commemorate the UPF’s 25^th anniversary, gathers representatives of the best young universities in the world, multinational corporations and international governments, to share experiences and goals.

Diversity in leadership, new models of collaboration, and the axes of integration and creativity are some of the topics discussed at the summit, in which THE has announced the creation of a new ranking, of universities in the “Golden Age”, founded between 1945 and 1966.

En aquesta sisena edició de la llista, la primera que inclou 200 institucions (l’edició passada van ser 150, i anteriorment, 100), la UPF s'ha situat com a 17a. millor universitat jove del món (l’any passat va ser la 15a.), la 10a. d'Europa i la 1a. d’Espanya.

Els resultats del rànquing s’han fet públics en el marc de la quarta edició de la trobada Times Higher Education Young Universities Summit, que sota el títol “Disruptive, dynamic, distinctive: Young universities rising to the challenges of tomorrow”, té lloc del 5 al 7 d'abril del 2017 a la Queensland University of Technology (QUT) de Brisbane, Austràlia.