Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) ranks among the world’s best universities in 20 academic fields in the 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, compiled by the international consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds. This result represents an increase of four disciplines compared to the previous edition and seven compared to 2024. The four areas added to the ranking this year are Petroleum Engineering, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, and Geography.
Internationally, UC3M ranks 63rd in the world in Economics and Econometrics and 93rd in Finance and Accounting, and is among the top 100 institutions in Library and Information Science. Nationally, in an analysis of 557 programs from 54 institutions, UC3M achieves first place in Petroleum Engineering, a result driven by the impact of its areas of expertise related to Energy Engineering and its research and development activities focused on sustainable fuels. Furthermore, it ranks second in Economics and Econometrics, Finance and Accounting, and Political Science and International Studies; and third in Business Administration.
The ranking also places the University among the top 150 in Law and in the 101-200 range in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. In Computer Science and Information Systems, it ranks 194th. It also ranks in the 151-200 range in the areas of Business Administration; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Mathematics; Political Science and International Studies; Statistics and Operations Research; and Communication. This last discipline shows an exponential rise in the number of positions compared to the previous report.
In the rest of the table, UC3M is among the top 250 higher education centers in History; Aeronautical, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering; and in Geography; in the 301-350 range in Materials Science; in the 351-400 range in Physics and Astronomy; and in the 651-700 range in Medicine.
QS World University Rankings by Subject provides an independent comparative analysis of the performance of more than 18,300 programs taken at more than 1,700 universities in 100 locations worldwide, covering 55 academic disciplines across five areas of study: Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences & Management.
Its methodology is based on five indicators: academic reputation; business reputation; average citations per article; “h-index”, focused on the quantity and impact of research activity; and international network to assess cross-border collaboration in R&D.
