UPF leads the U-Ranking for the eleventh consecutive year
Peace comes when you talk to the person you most hate. And that’s where the courage of a leader comes.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021), first recipient of an honorary doctorate from UPF
These words, spoken by Desmond Tutu, the first person ever to be awarded an honorary doctorate by UPF, are more applicable today than ever. The UPF condemns, and will always condemn, the use of violence to settle disputes. At UPF, we advocate approaching political or territorial conflicts based on dialogue and respect for all peoples and minorities.
As a university, we also want to show our support to the academic community in countries at war. Universities and scientific institutions are more necessary than ever in these regions. Access to education and the promotion of critical thinking, in the context of strong independent institutions, are the way to ensure the informed debate and reflection that can open the door to new avenues for finding solutions.
At UPF, we are aware of the university community’s concern for the human rights violations we are seeing in the conflicts around us. That is why on this website you will find information about campaigns and actions related to current conflicts, as well as opinion pieces and institutional statements. We also offer a dedicated e-mail address – [email protected] – to contact the university and let us know about your interests and concerns.
UPF leads the U-Ranking for the eleventh consecutive year
UPF has maintained its leadership in all the editions of the classification published by the BBVA Foundation and the IVIE. This year it shares first position with Carlos III of Madrid and the Polytechnic of Catalonia. The University is sole leader in the Research and Innovation sub-ranking.

UPF, for the eleventh year in a row, has come first in the overall U-Ranking 2023 classification, remaining the leading university in Spain for its academic performance. UPF, which leads the overall ranking jointly with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and Carlos III University of Madrid, tops the sub-ranking for Research and Innovation.
U-Ranking is a project driven by the BBVA Foundation and the IVIE, and it classifies Spanish universities on the basis of their teaching performance and innovation and research activities. In its 2023 edition, it analyses 71 Spanish universities, 48 public and 23 private, representing 98% of the Spanish University System (SUS), and it compares over 3,600 official bachelor’s degrees of these institutions in its classification of degrees.
The University is sole leader for the Research and Innovation sub-ranking, with an index of 1.9
In the overall performance ranking, UPF achieves a global index of 1.5, the same as UPC and UC3M. They are followed by the Polytechnic University of Valencia, with an index of 1.4, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, with an index of 1.3.
In the Research and Innovation sub-ranking, UPF stands top alone, achieving an index of 1.9, followed by the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, with 1.8. In the Teaching sub-ranking, there is a top block of six universities, with an index of 1.3, and a second block of seven universities, which includes UPF, with an index of 1.2.
The U-Ranking, which includes data from public information systems and statistical sources, analyses twenty indicators, grouped into two dimensions (teaching, and research and innovation), related to quality, internationalization, output and available resources, based on which each institution obtains a synthetic index.
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