Recently, it has been published the QS World University Rankings of the best 500 universities in the world, which is considered one of the best rankings and a worldwide reference in the higher education area. This year, three North American universities, of more than 3800 analysed, top the list ((Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University y Harvard University) and where 21 Spanish universities also made it to the list.
Analyzing the Spanish universities results, these slightly vary their positions compared to last year. Thus, the Universidad de Barcelona (ranked the best Spanish university of the list) gains a few positions as also does Universitat Pompeu Fabra. On the other hand, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid loose a few place getting now really close to the group of the best 200 universities.
The categories taken into account in the configuration of rankings such as QS World University Rankings are: the quality of education, the scientific production, the knowledge transfer capacity and the quality and quantity of publications (research publications, articles published in renowned magazines,…) Although it is true that the importance of these rankings is relative, they are good for the institutions to have a reference of personal performance and at the same time they give them international recognition, which will help them to get the attention of international teachers and students.