The UB remains among the 200 best universities in the world in a ranking from which the UdL falls
The UAB improves its position and already appears among the 300 best centers
BarcelonaOne more year, the University of Barcelona (UB) is once again the highest-ranked university in the State in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2025, popularly known as the Shanghai ranking and considered the most prestigious in the world. The institution from the Catalan capital maintains its place among the top 200 universities in the world. It thus consolidates itself as the only university in the State that manages to break into the upper tier of the classification.
On this table, in a Catalan context, the good results of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) also stand out, which is climbing positions and is now among the 201 and 300 best. Worse news, however, has been received this year by the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), which after ranking among the 301 and 400 best in the world in the last edition, now drops one step and is placed between 401 and 500. Also appearing in the ranking are Rovira i Virgili (URV) – which has declined compared to a year ago – and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) are placed in the 701 to 800 tier, and the University of Girona which remains between 901 and 1,000.
In contrast, the University of Lleida (UdL) disappears from the ranking, despite appearing between 801 and 900 a year ago. In total, six Catalan universities appear in the top 1,000 places, which also include 24 other universities from the rest of the State. The list analyzes six indicators: number of alumni who have won a Nobel Prize or the Fields Medal; professors with Nobel Prizes or Fields Medals; citations by researchers; articles in Nature and Science, academic performance per capita, and papers in the Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Science Citation Index.
In a statement, the rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, expressed his satisfaction with the results obtained and highlighted "the enormous improvement" in impact in scientific publications and the "effort" of researchers to achieve a level of excellence. Guàrdia also emphasized that among the top ten universities in the State, three are Catalan, a "power to be reckoned with".
According to the ranking, the UB obtains a significant valuation in the indicator that quantifies indexed publications (scientific production), with a score of 47.8, occupying position 137 in this indicator, and improves in performance per capita, with 27.6 points, ranking 110th worldwide in this indicator.
A bad year for the State
Overall, the Shanghai ranking shows a decline for Spanish universities, as they have lost six representatives compared to last year. In addition to the UdL, the universities of Cantabria, Balearic Islands, Jaén, Carlos III of Madrid, Cadiz, Cordoba, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have disappeared from the classification. The emergence of Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid and Valladolid has helped to partially compensate for these losses, as they join the ranking of the best in the world.
The list is once again headed by Harvard University, which has led the ranking for 24 years. Behind it are Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Completing the top ten are Cambridge, Berkeley, Princeton, Oxford, Columbia, the University of Chicago, and Caltech. As for European universities, Paris-Saclay is the first and remains the leader in 13th place, followed by ETH Zurich, in 19th.