ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) lists the world’s top institutions in 54 subjects by analysing five indicators that focus on research and international recognition of teaching and research staff. In the 2020 edition, published on 29 June, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) is listed among the world’s top 100 universities in Instruments Science and Technology (42), Water Resources (51-75), Civil Engineering (51-75), Remote Sensing (51-75), Telecommunication Engineering (76-100), Transportation Science and Technology (76-100), Mathematics (76-100) and Electrical and Electronic Engineering (76-100). The UPC is also the top Spanish university in Instruments Science and Technology, Water Resources, Telecommunication Engineering, Transportation Science and Technology, Metallurgical Engineering (1-2), Mathematics (1-3) and Electrical and Electronic Engineering (1-3). It is also ranked 2nd in Civil Engineering and 3rd in Remote Sensing.

Institutions must have a minimum number of publications in Web of Science for the 2014-2018 period, which ranges from 25 to 300 publications depending on the area. More than 4,000 universities have made it onto one or more lists of the Ranking. 

In the 2020 edition, the editors have replaced one of five indicators analysed in the ranking: instead of the total number of papers by subject (PUB), they are now considering the number of papers published in journals with Q1 journal impact factor quartile. This edition used the bibliometric indicators for the period 2014-2018 extracted from the InCites database by Clarivate Analytics. Each indicator is given a different weight depending on the subject or group of subjects, so that it better reflects the characteristics of the area.