The UB consolidates its position among the top 200 universities in the world.

BarcelonaGood news once again for the University of Barcelona (UB). According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2025, popularly known as the Shanghai ranking and considered the most prestigious in the world, the Catalan university is once again the highest-ranked in Spain and the only one to crack the top 200. Behind them, but also with very good results, are the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), which are among the 301st and 400 best in the world.

The other Catalan universities appearing in the ranking are: the Rovira i Virgili University (URV), which makes a leap forward compared to last year and appears between position 601 and 700; the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), which also climbs positions and appears between 701 and 800; the University of Lleida (UdL), which drops one place and is now between 801 and 900, and the University of Girona, which also loses some positions and is included in the group from 901 to 1,000. In total, seven Catalan universities appear in the top 1,000, along with 29 more universities from the rest of Spain.

The rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guardia, has highlighted the value of "maintaining our position of excellence and leadership," which he believes makes them a benchmark within the "Catalan, Spanish, and also Latin American" university system. "We must place even greater value on the results of the UB and the Catalan university system because we are in leading positions in a ranking that evaluates a huge number of universities when our budgetary capacity is far below that of the universities that are among the top 100," he specified.

He also points out that, despite the "methodological limitations of the rankings," which contrast with the "complexity" of evaluating university institutions, his reputational component and its importance in the management and projection of the UB stand out.

Harvard continues to lead

As for the rest of the world, Harvard University remains in first place, followed, as in recent years, by Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (MIT). The prestigious ranking analyzes the scientific excellence of more than 2,500 public and private institutions, highlighting the top 1,000.