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It is also important how many ‘highly cited researchers’ a university has. That is, researchers whose articles are among the 1% most cited in their field. The Shanghai rankings, on the other hand, do not take the education parameter into account. This rating is the only one that looks at awards and publications and calculates it at 30 percent.

In the scientific world great importance is attached to these types of international rankings – there are many more – because it is very important for a university’s international knowledge position to rank high in such a list.

Nine Spanish universities are included according to Shanghai Rankings 2023 to the top 500 in the world. Neither made it to the top 100.

According to this list, published on Tuesday, the country’s 38 Spanish universities are among the top 1,000 universities in the world—there will be around 18,000 in total. Nine Spanish universities are among the top 500 and none are in the top 100.

Unlike last year, in this edition of the Shanghai Ranking, the University of Miguel Hernández de Elche (Alicante) and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are not included in the ranking.

Holland and Belgium

Compared to neighboring countries, France, Switzerland and Germany each have four campuses among the top 100; England has eight, and the Netherlands (Utrecht on 51, Groningen on 75 and Rotterdam on 87) and Sweden three each. Belgium has two universities in the top 100: University of Ghent at 83 and KU Leuven at 85.

Harvard has been the best for 21 years

Globally, for 21 consecutive years, Harvard University (USA) occupies the first position, followed by Stanford University (2) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3). Followed by Cambridge (4, United Kingdom), Berkeley (5) and Princeton (6), both from the United States, Oxford (7, United Kingdom), Columbia (8), California Institute of Technology (9) and University of Chicago ( 10), all from North America.

Complete ranking of the best Spanish universities

Below you will find Spain results from the Shanghai table for 2023 and 2022:

• University of Barcelona 201-300 | 151-200
• University of Granada 201-300 | 201-300
• Autonomous University of Barcelona 301-400 | 201-300
• Autonomous University of Madrid 301-400 | 301-400
• Complutense Madrid 301-400 | 201-300
• Pompeu Fabra Barcelona 301-400 | 301-400
• University of Valencia 301-400 | 201-300
• Technical University of Valencia 401-500 | 401-500
• University of the Basque Country 401-500 | 301-400
• University of Alicante 501-600 | 601-700
• University of Navarra 501-600 | 501-600
• University of Salamanca 501-600 | 501-600
• Seville University 501-600 | 401-500
• University of Vigo 501-600 | 501-600
• Technical University of Madrid 601-700 | 601-700
• Jaume I University Valencia 601-700 | 601-700
• University of La Laguna 601-700 | 701-800
• University of Oviedo 601-700 | 701-800
• University of Santiago de Compostela 601-700 | 401-500
• University of the Balearic Islands 601-700 | 701-800
• University of Zaragoza 601-700 | 501-600
• Technical University of Catalonia 701-800 | 701-800
• University of Lleida 701-800 | 701-800
• University of Extremadura 701-800 | 601-800
• University of Malaga 701-800 | 701-800
• University of Murcia 701-800 | 701-800
• Rovira and Virgili in Tarragona 701-800 | 601-700
• Pablo de Olavide University 801-900 | 601-700
• University of Castilla-La Mancha 801-900 | 701-800
• University of Girona 801-900 | 801-900
• Jaén University 801-900 | 701-800
• Carlos III of Madrid 901-1000 | 901-1000
• King Juan Carlos of Madrid 901-1000 | 901-1000
• University of Cadiz 901-1000 | 901-1000
• University of Alcalá 901-1000 | 801-900
• University of Cantabria 901-1000 | 901-1000
• University of Cordoba 901-1000 | 801-900
• University of Valladolid 901-1000 | 901-1000

Salamanca University

Strikingly unremarkable is the University of Salamanca ranking between 500 and 600. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. This makes it the oldest university in Spain and the fourth oldest in Europe after the University of Bologna in Italy (1088), the University of Paris (1150) and the University of Oxford (1167).