Research Areas

The aim of the ISSUE (Indicadores Sintéticos del Sistema Universitario Español – Synthetic Indicators of the Spanish University System) project, jointly developed by the Ivie and the BBVA Foundation, is to analyze the performance of Spanish universities and to offer comparable and synthetic images of these higher education institutions. As a result of this work, each year U-Ranking is published, based on the analysis of the teaching, research and innovation and technological development activities of the universities.

U-Ranking 2017 analyzes 61 Spanish universities that account for more than 93% of students of the higher education system and more than 98% of its research output. It examines 48 public universities (all except the UIMP and the International University of Andalusia, which singularities make them not comparable) and 13 private universities that provide suitable information for the calculation of the indicators.

The results of U-Ranking’s 5th edition confirm that the Spanish university system is very diverse and that Spain’s leading universities are usually located in large metropolitan areas. These top universities benefit from the synergies created with their environment that promote better academic results and increase job placement opportunities for their graduates.