On 3 July, Times Higher Education (THE) published the 2023 edition of the Young University Rankings, which places UPF in eighteenth position worldwide, and for the tenth consecutive year, the University remains within the top twenty positions of the list.

THE Young University Rankings, which were first published in 2012, include the best institutions from around the world under fifty years old (founded since 1973). In this 2023 edition, the list includes a total of 605 institutions (66 more than last year), belonging to 78 different countries.

Laia de Nadal: “Pompeu Fabra is a public university rooted in the city of Barcelona, and is highly competitive in research on an international scale and has a vocation for educational transformation, as reflected in the good results sustained in this ranking”

UPF remains in first position in Spain and among the top ten in Europe, precisely in ninth position, behind five universities in Paris, two in the Netherlands and one in Belgium.

For the UPF rector, Laia de Nadal, “Pompeu Fabra is a public university rooted in the city of Barcelona, and is highly competitive in research on an international scale and has a vocation for educational transformation, as reflected in the good results sustained in this ranking, and this has been possible thanks to the determination and strong commitment of all its governing teams and employees. On this basis, now is a good time for us to turn UPF into a much more flexible university that encourages innovation and maintains its uniqueness within the Catalan system”.

In the global ranking, the podium is occupied by the Technological University of Nanyang, Singapore (second place last year); the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (from third to second position), and the PSL University (Paris Sciences & Lettres), which has fallen from first to third position. Within the top ten positions of the ranking, we find five Asian institutions, four from Europe and one from Oceania.

UPF stands out for citations and improves for international outlook and research

In drawing up the ranking of the best young universities, Times Higher Education uses the same indicators (a total of thirteen) as it uses in the global ranking, in the last edition of which UPF came 186th. However, the ranking of young universities gives less weight to indicators related to reputation, so as to reflect as faithfully as possible the characteristics of younger institutions.

In the 2023 edition of the Young University Rankings, UPF achieves a global score of 61.6 points, and, in the five dimensions included, it obtains the following scores: citations (91.5), private sector income (46.2), international outlook (68.9), research (52.8) and teaching (39.9). Compared to last year, UPF has climbed for international outlook and research, and fallen slightly for citations, private sector income, and teaching.

These dimensions are weighted differently: teaching (30%), with several variables related to the overall teaching process, such as the ratio of students per teacher or the institution’s academic reputation; research (30%), obtained from the volume of revenue through research, scientific output, and the reputation of the institution in this field.

The three remaining dimensions are citations received (30%), with the aim of measuring the influence of research results; international outlook (7.5%), with ratios of local versus international students and lecturers, as well as international cooperation with other institutions; and industry income (2.5%), from the transfer of knowledge.