Spanish universities fall into the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), better known for the Shanghai ranking that measures the best universities in the world in terms of scientific research. They are in the lower range of the ranking.
The ranking, which is published every August 15, does not include any Spanish in this edition among the 200 best in the world in 2023, they fall from one stripe to another and lose two institutions in the list of the 500 best and three in the top 1000.
In this edition there are 9 universities among the 500 best in the world (last year 11) of which 5 have fallen in rank and one has risen (Granada).
Among the first thousand, only the one from Oviedo (to 601-700) rises, in addition to Granada, and, on the other hand, there have been 17 descents from the fork in which they were last year.
The University of Barcelona, which in previous years was in the range of the 150 to 200 best in the world, has jumped to the next range, from 201 to 300, which also includes the University of Granada, which has risen from the previous year. "We have only lost a few positions, which has made us jump the band", explains the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia. "But we are still the first Spanish university," he notes.
According to the data from the Barcelona campus, the jump has been produced not by obtaining worse results than the previous year, which, in general, have been maintained, but by the irruption of Chinese universities (there are six more than the previous year among the 200 first) thanks to the strong investments obtained by the government.
In addition, in the calculation of faculties, the UB stands out worldwide in Medicine (45th in the world), Human Biology, Biology and Botany (among the best 75 in the world), Physics, Public Health (among the 100 best ).
The Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Valencia are also losing steam and from being in the 200-300 range in the 2022 edition, they are now in the 300-400 range. Here are also the Pompeu de Fabra and the Autónoma de Madrid, which maintain the same position.
Finally, between 400 and 500 are the Polytechnic of Valencia, as in 2022, and that of the Basque Country, which also descends in band.
In total, there are 39 universities in the top 1000, three fewer than in last year's edition.
The world leader is, as in the last 21 years, Harvard (United States), followed by Stanford (USA), which remains in second place for another year, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). .), which consolidates the third position it rose to in 2022.
These three are followed by Cambridge (UK), Berkeley (USA), Princeton (USA) and Oxford (UK).
The ranking of the ten with the best scores worldwide is closed by Columbia (USA), the California Institute of Technology and Chicago.
