UOC heads ranking of online universities for research

The UOC is the number-one online university in research according to the CYD ranking for 2020, which uses performance indicators to evaluate Spanish universities. The study also noted that the UOC has moved up several places over the last year and has been given the highest score in 13 of these indicators (10 in the previous ranking). The ranking analysed 2,925 programmes from 76 universities out of the 81 institutions established prior to 2019 offering bachelor's degree programmes, that is, 94% of the total. Of these 76, 48 are public and 28 private.

Of the 13 high-performance indicators, 4 were in the area of research (1 more than last year), which puts the UOC at the top of the online universities list in this category. Specifically, the University received green lights in publications' standardized impact, number of citations, postdoctoral degrees and the average number of research premiums. This result is a reflection of the University's commitment to research, which is undertaken by 400 researchers, 48 research groups, 3 research centres and 1 doctoral school.

The UOC also obtained three high-performance indicators for knowledge transfer (one more than last year): in number of spin-offs, revenue from licences and continuous training revenue. It had a medium-performance indicator in private funding. This result reflects the work done by the University in recent years to create closer cooperation ties between business enterprises, other universities and R&I entities, in line with the third objective that all universities must achieve: knowledge and technology transfer.

According to the ranking, in 2020 the UOC has maintained the same three high-performance indicators in the area of teaching and learning that it received in 2019. Specifically, it obtained green lights in success rate and in percentage of bachelor's and master's degree students from other autonomous communities.

In regard to international focus, once again in 2020 the UOC has two high-performance indicators: for foreign faculty members and placements abroad. It has two medium-performance indicators in bachelor's degree programmes taught in a foreign language and in international publications.

The CYD ranking also assesses universities' contribution to regional development, an area in which the UOC was given a high-performance indicator for its regional publications.

The study found Catalonia to be the autonomous community with the largest number of high-performance indicators, with 7 of the 15 best universities in Spain. Top of the list is the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

Seventh CYD ranking

The goal of this study is to endow the Spanish university system with greater transparency, applying a multidimensional approach.

The ranking's methodology is based on a system of transparent, reliable indicators that measure the quality of the Spanish university system to ascertain whether its performance in different areas is high, medium or low.

The CYD Foundation (Conocimiento y Desarrollo, "Knowledge and Development" in Spanish) was created in 2002 as a business initiative convinced of the important role played by universities in the country's economic and social development. Its goal is to analyse and promote the contribution made by Spanish universities to development, to foster entrepreneurship in society, and to broaden the ties between the university and the corporate world.