On Wednesday 9 May, the Knowledge and Development Foundation (CYD) presented its fifth annual CYD Ranking, which analyses Spanish universities on the basis of institutional indicators and by fields of knowledge. The indicators are grouped into five aspects: teaching and learning, research, knowledge transfer, international outlook and contribution to regional development.

This year was the first time UIC Barcelona participated in the ranking. Yet despite this, the institution secured an outstanding first place position in contribution to regional development. To measure this indicator, the ranking takes into account three things: work placements in regional companies, regional publications and regional research funds, i.e. the percentage of external research income from the autonomous community in which the university is located. 

In terms of knowledge, the university also stands out thanks to its Bachelor’s Degree in Dentistry, one of the five areas of knowledge added to the ranking this year. In this regard, UIC Barcelona stands out along with the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of Granada, the University of Murcia and the University of Salamanca as the institutions with the highest performance score in this field.

The 2018 CYD Ranking, as in past editions, was prepared in cooperation with U-Multirank. Yet while the CYD Ranking applies the same methodological principles as U-Multirank with regards to preparation and most indicators, it also uses other indicators adapted to the Spanish higher education system. The CYD Ranking is independent and fully financed by the Knowledge and Development Foundation.

In this edition, the results published make reference to 22 fields of knowledge and 2,235 degree programmes at 73 universities, thereby including 87% of the 82 Spanish universities currently teaching undergraduate courses. Of this number, 50 are public and 32 private.