The strength of Chinese institutions in the Shanghai ranking, the most influential international ranking of universities in the world, has been more evident in the 2023 edition than in others and has forced European and Spanish universities to drop to lower ranks.
Despite this situation, the Spanish university system shows strength, not only because of the number of universities in the top thousand (39), but also because it stands out in disciplines (the ranking also analyzes areas of academic knowledge) such as veterinary medicine, health public, economic, tourism and some engineering (see list at the end of the article).
The University of Barcelona (UB), which until now was in the range of 151 to 200 best institutions in the world, among the 2,500 that are presented, has come to be in the range of 201-300, together with the University of Granada ( UGR), which has improved its rating (the only Spanish one that has gone up, along with that of Oviedo).
The rest of the campus has either been maintained or has gone down steps, such as the Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Complutense de Madrid (UCM), the one in Valencia (UV), the one in the Basque Country (UPV), Seville (US) , Zaragoza (UZ) or Santiago de Compostela (USC), among others.
In this edition there are nine Spanish universities among the fifty best in the world (last year, 11) of which five have fallen in position and one has risen (Granada).
The rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia, indicates that the institution he directs has only changed a few positions but that these have changed the range in which it was found up to now. In fact, the individualized indicators show no changes compared to 2022.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), the Shanghai ranking, has been preparing since 2003 a classification of leading universities for their research. The classification is discussed in the academic world because it evaluates aspects that do not always reflect the quality of a university. For example, 20% of the note corresponds to numbers of Nobel prizes or Fields medals (mathematics) that the campus has, something that is reserved only for entities that can finance them
But today, and as long as Europe does not have its own ranking (it is already being promoted), it is one of the instruments with which to reliably evaluate the international university system. The quality and quantity of articles published in high-impact journals such as Science and Nature (or others for the social sciences), researchers, as well as professors and award-winning alumni are measured.
In 2010 there was no Chinese university in this classification, which has always been led by the American ones (Harvard, Stanford or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT) and which also includes the British Cambridge and Oxford. But for a few years now, Chinese universities have been entering, benefiting from the strong investments of the Government, which has set higher education as an objective for the country.
In this edition, universities such as Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, Nankai, Hunan, Beijing Normal or Beihang have entered occupying leadership positions, adding to those already existing and already among the top hundred. Tsinghua University (26), Beijing (34), Zhejiang University (36), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (54), University of Science and Technology of China (62), Fudan (67) Sun Yat-sen University (79), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (96), Hong Kong (97).
“The rankings are here to stay”, maintains the rector of the UB, who grants them the value of reflecting a part of a complex reality, “but you cannot run an institution thinking about them”. And he feels satisfied that the UB remains among the top 70 in Europe.
He warns that what makes the difference is the financing of the universities and that these decreases, still anecdotal, but which condition the reputation and the system of scholarships that governments grant to send students, can become a reality.
Although it is difficult to compete with those campuses, he continues, capable of signing winners. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Scotsman Fraser Sotddart, for example, and his research team, will leave Northwestern University in the United States and start working at the University of Hong Kong in September, after turning 81.
Despite the fall, the Spanish system continues to show great dynamism and leadership if the results of the knowledge areas that ARWU also evaluates are observed. In all disciplines, with the exception of aerospace and oceanic engineering, there are Spanish faculties among the top 200 in the world. And they stand out in areas such as veterinary medicine, tourism, food technology or sports. The Catalans (UB, UAB, UPF and UPC) frequently appear in key sectors.
An area of knowledge as demanding as medicine stands out, which is measured with the American campuses of excellence and other countries in which this knowledge is strategic. The UB is ranked 45th in the world. Or a veterinarian from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), number 5 on the world list. In this discipline, the Complutense de Madrid (UCM) at 15, Murcia (UM) at 34, and Córdoba (UC) at 41 are also in outstanding positions.
Public Health of Pompeu Fabra (UPF), in number 25, of the 2,500 universities analyzed. This university also stands out in Economics, the 40th in the world, competing with the American and British ones.
Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic of Madrid (UPM) is at number 6 and in this area the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) is also among the top 100. The UPM is located at 43 for Instrumentation and technology (the Seville campus, at position 50).
The list goes on. In food technology, Spain has a great result, not only because the University of Valencia (UV) is in 26th place and Granada is in 30th place, but also because among the first 200 there are 17 Spanish universities.
The same is true of tourism, led by Valencia (38) and followed by Las Palmas (39), but with 15 universities among the top two hundred.
Below is the list of the positions of the Spanish campuses by disciplines in the world. In the newspaper we have included only the top 200 in the world and we have kept the ordering of the ranking by bands. The first fifty campuses are ordered by number. Then, by bands, from 51 to 75, from 76 to 100, from 101 to 150 and from 151 to 200.
