•Notícia

The first edition of U-Multirank, the European Commission's new ranking, involved more than 850 universities from 70 countries. The tool aims to provide a multilevel and multidimensional view that enables the strengths and weaknesses of the institutions analysed to be identified in five major areas of activity: teaching and learning, research, international orientation, knowledge transfer and regional engagement. The application offers a wide range of options that allows different profiles (students and professional, institutional and academic representatives) to generate personalised classifications that suit their specific needs.

U-Multirank analyses a long list of indicators, which are divided into five main areas of activity, some of which are default and others that are optional. The UPC is particularly prominent in relation to ten of these indicators, including number of publications (as an absolute value), external research income, income from private resources, patents with companies and revenue from continuing education courses. It is also prominent in relation to master's degrees taught in a foreign language, student mobility, foreign doctoral degree graduates, co-publications with regional agents and revenue from regional sources.

As far as U-Multirank's default indicators are concerned, for bachelor's degrees the UPC is ranked 146th worldwide, 109th in Europe and third in Spain and Catalonia; in the latter case, behind Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). The ranking also positions the UPC as the top polytechnic university in Spain.

If all possible indicators are considered for bachelor's degrees, the UPC is second in Spain (after the UPF), 93rd in Europe and 113th in the world, and its positions are better than if just the default indicators are taken into account.

As for master's degrees, the UPC is ranked among the 160 best universities in the world and is 155th in the world and 117th in Europe. Nationally, its positions remain the same: it is ranked as the best polytechnic university in Spain and the third-best university in Spain and Catalonia.

With regard to doctoral degrees, the UPC is ranked 153rd in the world and 115th in Europe. In this classification its national positions are also the same: it is the best polytechnic university in Spain and the third-best university in Spain and Catalonia.

The U-Multirank project was launched in June 2009, when the European Commission announced the design and feasibility study of a new university ranking that sought to demonstrate the diversity of higher education institutions. The UPC was one of 159 institutions from 57 countries that made up the sample dealt with in the pilot project.

The feasibility study was published in 2011. In January 2013 the EU presidency made a definite commitment to the U-Multirank project in the conference Rankings and the Visibility of Quality Outcomes in the European Higher Education Area. The project was carried out by a consortium led by the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) in Germany and the Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. In Spain, data collection was coordinated by the CYD Foundation (Fundación CYD).

The UPC participated in the ranking both as an institution and in the specific fields of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and physics. This year's edition also includes the field of business administration, in which the UPC has not participated, and the 2015 edition is expected to include the fields of psychology, computer science and medicine.