Thursday, March 28

Research, teaching and transfer, the three keys to being among the best universities in the world


When looking for the best university to study, many students and families look at quality rankings, classifications that include the best public and private institutions where different aspects can be observed, such as teaching, research, the transfer of knowledge, employability or projects with companies and organizations.

There are many rankings in which universities around the world are included, but three of them stand out for their relevance and the requirements that candidates must meet: the Times Higher Education (THE), the Academic Ranking of World Universities ( ARWU) and the QS. The International University of La Rioja (UNIR) has managed this course to enter the first of these rankings, THE, which is based on a series of factors, such as the academic prestige of the university, the quality of the research, the proportion of international students, the quality of the student experience and the relevance of the university to the world.

Being among the best universities in the world is a major challenge for the institution. Juan José Sobrino (Toledo, 1979), Director of Rankings of the Department of Quality of LINK, highlights the importance of entering a list of these characteristics, a sign of having done things well. “He is one of the three best in the world. It means that the university, even if it is young, is evolving in the right way. We are having many professors who do research, that the students endorse us… it is a demonstration that we are following the right path”.

UNIR is known for its high academic level, its commitment to research and its exchange programs for international students. In addition, the university offers a high-level study environment and a wide range of activities, events and opportunities for students. It is a 100% online university that offers quality higher education through the most innovative technologies, always with the student at the center of its activity and that, despite being a very young university, wins the award for a Bet on three aspects: teaching, research and service in the transfer.

In Spain, UNIR offers 45 official degrees, 116 postgraduate degrees, 65 own titles and 4 doctoral programs with the aim of bringing a comprehensive and personal education to the more than 55,000 students who work in its face-to-face-virtual classrooms from 86 countries, especially in Spain and Latin America. His teaching method, adapted to the demands of the labor market, makes LINK an authentic social lever that breaks barriers and helps everyone, wherever they are, fulfill their dreams of university and progress.

A ranking with requirements within the reach of few universities

The Times Higher Education ranking specifically evaluates universities that have a high degree of research, such as LINK. The greatest requirement to enter THE is to have at least a thousand research articles published in the last five years in Scopus, one of the main scientific databases in the world. In addition, since 2004, another 13 performance indicators have been analyzed to take into account the merits of the institutions so that students and stakeholders in their academic environment can compare and choose between the different centers, as well as to provide companies and governments with a idea about the training provided in them.

To be classified in this ranking is to place oneself among the university elite. In it we find only 55 Spanish universities out of the 91 registered in the Register of Universities, Centers and Degrees. LINK debuts in the ranking with a meritorious 49th national position, and ranks as the ninth private university in Spain. Worldwide, the THE ranking includes 1,800 universities from 104 countries, out of some 40,000 that are counted in the world, and LINK is located in the range 1201-1500, highlighted by its “international perspective”

Within the range of study possibilities within LINKIn fact, there is a master’s degree aimed at technicians, experts and university directors so that all the personnel that form part of the Quality Departments are trained in relation to these rankings. East Quality Master’s Degree in Higher Education It supposes a response to the interest of the centers regarding their positioning and reputation. “The master’s degree has students from all over the world, and has a subject in which several experts in the field of rankings, bibliometrics or advanced statistics, who help professionals to transfer this knowledge to their own universities. It is an exercise in university social responsibility” says Juan José Sobrino.

The international perspective, key in the ranking positions

The international perspective factor not only refers to the origin of students and teachers. It also measures collaboration in research carried out at the university itself. And it is that in LINK The scientific production stands out, which is developed in co-authorship between international research professors. In this THE ranking variable, the International University of La Rioja occupies opposition 511 among all classified universities, above average, and is number 12 among all Spanish universities. But, in addition, it is the first online in this factor.

The focus of the International University of La Rioja It is large, a center where different cultures coexist, both from Spain and Latin America, and its claim is to be the best online university for Spanish-speakers. In addition to having international teachers and students, they seek international co-authorship of the articles written by their researchers, who work with colleagues from other universities around the world, which reinforces the work and achieves a very broad transfer of knowledge in the articles that They are indexed in the best popularization magazines.

The THE ranking has a first entry barrier in which, before looking at any other aspect of teaching and its operations, they evaluate the quality of research in universities, prioritizing those centers that make a clear commitment to this factor. “We have entered a very good position, weighing heavily on international work —explains Pablo Moreno Ger (Madrid 1980), Vice Chancellor for Research— We are open to collaboration with the whole world, with universities, students and teachers at an international level”.



The international character of LINK It encourages the research work carried out within the university to be carried out in collaboration with departments from other foreign universities, which gives a much greater dimension to the projects, which address a range of all areas of knowledge, from psychology applied to emotional well-being and the influence of new technologies on society to artificial intelligence, data science, communication, detection of hate speech and the influence of advertising on society or the biosanitary field.

The new forms in education as a pillar

In the Times Higher Education ranking, there is also a classification of the best universities by areas of knowledge. In this first foray, a young university like LINK debuts entering four fields worldwide: Education, Arts and Humanities, Psychology and Social Sciences.

Regarding Education, UNIR has reached the first position as an online university in Spain. Likewise, it is the second university among the 40 Spanish private universities of reference in this discipline. The Faculty of Education is the first created in the center, with the Infant and Primary Degrees and the Master of Secondary Education. In this twelve-year journey, they have incorporated 21 degrees, thus becoming the Faculty of Education with the largest number of degrees in Spain. In addition, it is among the first 500 universities worldwide.

For Elena Martínez Carro, Dean of the Faculty of Education, “we have created degrees that serve the educational world, that have practical outlets in demand in educational centers and throughout the environment.” UNIR took the risk of creating new didactic lines that are not found in almost any other faculty in the world, including an area of ​​educational psychology, a fundamental tool for understanding the dynamics of the current educational world.

“We wanted to create master’s degrees in early attention, prevention and resolution of conflicts in the classroom, neuropsychology in education or emotional education, in addition to the usual ones such as psychopedagogy. They are qualifications that have an impact on the educational world and are real instruments for students who are dedicated to teaching”, explains Elena Martinez. The first place in the THE ranking is the result of work to create this type of practical and innovative degrees, which combines research with teaching, expanding knowledge of new fields that may have an impact on society.

LINK It has also been classified in the first positions of the ranking with respect to online and private universities in Spain, mainly in the disciplines of Arts and Humanities, Psychology and Social Sciences, in which it has risen as the second best private online university in Spain. Spain.

There is still a long way to go to improve these positions, take the data and analysis of its global impact on the world of research as a reference, continue advancing with highly qualified teachers and students, and become a benchmark for other universities. in the world, with which they will continue to maintain close ties to impact society and change the course of training.



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