Two Catalan universities in world's top 200

The University of Barcelona (UB) has risen up the scale of the world's universities to 165th position in the 2020 edition of the QS World University Rankings.

Barcelona's main university also occupies a higher position than any of the 6 Catalan institutions of higher learning included on the list.

Meanwhile, Barcelona's Autonomous University (UAB) and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), also in the Catalan capital, rose by five and seven positions to 188th and 285th, respectively.

However, Catalonia's Polytechnic University (UPC) dropped 25 places, although it remains within the top 300 universities in the world.

While Madrid's Autonomous University, which was Spain's best university last year, fell to 192nd place, it is still among the best universities in Spain, next to the UB and the UAB.

While the UB did best in the category of academic reputation, it is the fourth year in a row that the UAB has improved its position, and was noted for the number of its studies cited.

The ranking was topped by three US universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for the eighth year in a row, followed by Stanford University and then Harvard University.

Among the European universities on the list, the highest placed in the ranking was the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.