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Industry Collaboration Index

Industry Collaboration Index 2026 · University profile

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Spain · Europe · Silver

★ Sector Awards 2026. Finalist: the Space and Satellite Technology Award (with GMV Innovating Solutions; Manuel Sanjurjo-Rivo and Diego A. Escobar).

#461World rank of 1,038
53.3ICI scoreout of 100
#5National rank, of 32 in Spain
#193Regional rank, of 388 in Europe
303.5Verified industry works, 2021 to 2025
172Company groups worked with (65 on two or more works)

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid is ranked #461 of 1,038, with Silver standing. Its strongest pillar is co-creation (66): 303.5 verified industry works against about 258 expected for its mix of fields. It is held back most by breadth (38): partners concentrated in a few research fields; and by scale (43): a network of 65 company groups on two or more joint works.

Research Collaboration Index 2026: #847 of 1,195 · View the RCI profile →

Why this position

Four pillars, as percentiles

Co-creation30% of the score
66

How often it co-authors with companies, compared with what its own mix of research fields would predict; size makes no difference. 303.5 verified works against about 258 expected for its fields (1.18 times the expected rate).

Durability20% of the score
66

How much of its industry work sits in sustained partnerships with the same company group. 15 sustained partnerships: five or more joint works in three or more of the five years.

Scale30% of the score
43

The size of its industry network: company groups on two or more works, sustained partnerships, and its place in the worldwide network of universities and companies. 65 company groups on two or more joint works; 15 sustained partnerships.

Breadth20% of the score
38

How varied its partners are, judged by each company's main research field. Measured across the main research fields of all the company groups it worked with.

Each pillar is a percentile among the 1,038 ranked universities: a value of 80 means a higher value than about 80 in every 100 of them. The ICI score (53.3) is the weighted average of the four percentiles. Rank 461 of 1,038 overall; 5 of 32 in Spain; 193 of 388 in Europe. Standing bands: Platinum for ranks 1 to 100, Gold 101 to 300, Silver 301 to 600. How the index is built →

In numbers

The evidence behind the position

3.5%of its 8,712 research works in 2021 to 2025 were co-authored with a verified company
1.18Industry co-authorship rate: 1.18 times what its mix of research fields would predict (303.5 verified works; about 258 expected)
15sustained partnerships: the same company group on five or more joint works in three or more of the five years

In Spain

5 of 32 ranked universities in Spain

  1. #3 Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya world #255, score 65.3
  2. #4 Universitat de Barcelona world #303, score 62.6
  3. #5 Universidad Carlos III de Madrid world #461, score 53.3
  4. #6 University of the Basque Country world #524, score 49.6
  5. #7 Universidad Politécnica de Madrid world #543, score 48.4

All ranked universities →   Europe: 193 of 388 →

Where it works with industry

Sector strengths

Verified industry works by sector, with its position in each sector ranking. A university is ranked in a sector once it has at least 20 verified works there; sectors with fewer than 50 eligible universities are provisional.

Strongest sector positions

#13 of 188Next-Generation Communications74.5 verified works in the sector
Next-Generation Communications
74.5#13 of 188
Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
23.5#418 of 481
Artificial Intelligence
13under 20 works
Clean Energy Transition
11under 20 works
Software, Cloud and Data
11under 20 works
Advanced Manufacturing and Industry 4.0
10under 20 works
Space and Satellite Technology
9.5under 20 works
Cybersecurity and Digital Trust
9under 20 works
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
7ranking withheld (under 10 eligible)
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
7under 20 works
Climate, Environment and Sustainability
6under 20 works
Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics
5.5under 20 works
Batteries and Energy Storage
4under 20 works
Automotive and Mobility
4under 20 works
Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies
3under 20 works
Medical Technology and Digital Health
3under 20 works
Aerospace and Aviation
2under 20 works
Chemicals, Process and Resources
2under 20 works
Quantum Technologies
2under 20 works
Agriculture and Food Technology
1under 20 works
Built Environment and Infrastructure
1under 20 works
Not in any of the 21 sectors
94counted in the overall index

209.5 of its 303.5 verified industry works fall within the 21 sectors. The rest have research topics that belong to no industry sector (basic science, for example) or are consortium papers with 100 or more authors, which the sector indices leave out; all of them count fully in the overall index.

Who it works with

Company partners, 2021 to 2025

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid co-authored verified work with 172 company groups, consortium papers aside: 65 of them on two or more works, and 15 as sustained partners.

The largest 12 of its 172 company groups, by joint works

Company groupBased inCompany's main research fieldJoint worksYears with a joint work
Telefonica Research and DevelopmentSpainComputer Science475 of 5
NokiaFinlandEngineering29.55 of 5
EricssonSwedenEngineering245 of 5
GMV Innovating SolutionsSpainEngineering144 of 5
InterDigitalUnited StatesComputer Science135 of 5
EurescomGermanyNot recorded133 of 5
WINGS ICT SolutionsGreeceEngineering124 of 5
OrangeFranceEngineering113 of 5
NextworksItalyComputer Science93 of 5
ArquimeaSpainEngineering8.55 of 5
AirbusFranceEngineering84 of 5
Infineon TechnologiesGermanyEngineering84 of 5

A company group brings together a company's subsidiaries and research labs under one name. A work counts half when its only company author also holds a post at this university. Consortium papers with 100 or more authors are left out of this table.

Examples of its work with industry

Most-cited verified joint works

Its most-cited verified works with 30 or fewer authors, leaving out guidelines and consensus statements. Citation counts are those of the open scholarly record at harvest. Each title links to the work.

Over time

Verified industry works by year

60.52021
582022
542023
572024
742025

2025 is not yet complete: papers published late in the year are still being added to the open record, and coverage may not be equally complete for every university, so compare years with care. A work counts half when its only company author also holds a post at the university, so some totals end in .5.

Funded partnerships (reported, not scored)

Publicly funded research projects with companies

European Union: 75 Horizon projects with company partners

Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects starting 2021-2025 in which this university and at least one company take part (439 distinct companies). Most frequent: Telefonica Innovacion Digital SL, Telecom Italia SpA O Tim SpA, Nextworks Srl, Wings Ict Solutions Technologies Pliroforikis Kai Epikoinonion Anonymi, Organismos Tilepikoinonion Tis Ellados Ote Ae, Nokia Networks France.

  • EUROfusion Implementation of activities described in the Roadmap to Fusion during Horizon Europe through a joint programme of the members of the... 2021, 12 companies
  • HECATE Hybrid ElectriC regional Aircraft distribution TEchnologies 2023, 22 companies
  • QSNP Quantum Secure Networks Partnership 2023, 14 companies

Shown for context from the public grant registries; they do not enter the score in Edition 1. Comparable open registries of company partners exist for the European Union and the United Kingdom but not yet for most other research systems, and in some countries national research organisations take part on behalf of university laboratories, so these counts are not comparable between countries.

Funded and co-publishing. Of the funded company partners that match an ICI company group, 41 also appear in this university's verified co-authorship record (Telefónica Innovación Digital, Nokia, Ericsson, WINGS ICT Solutions, Nextworks, Telefonica Research and Development) and 70 are funded partners not yet visible in it. About 33% of funded company names could be matched to a company group; the rest are counted, not guessed. Sources: UKRI Gateway to Research harvested 4 Oct 2026; CORDIS bulk files of 2026-10-12 (latest record update 2026-06-10). Funded partnerships cover UK (UKRI Gateway to Research) and EU (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, CORDIS) projects starting 2021 to 2025 only. They are reported, never scored, and a funder record outside these two sources is not visible here.

Evidence checked

502 verified company links

Each counted link (one work, this university and one company) was confirmed against the affiliation text its author wrote; 256 of 758 candidate links were set aside.

Why links were set aside
  • 161 company name not written in the author's affiliation
  • 23 ordinary-word name without a company suffix
  • 13 part of a university or public institute's own unit
  • 13 excluded after hand audit: BEST is a publicly funded research centre
  • 11 a place or common word that failed its stricter rule
  • 6 excluded after hand audit: General Atomics' evidence here is almost entirely from DIII-D and inertial-fusion work it performs as operator of US government facilities; treated as a contractor-operated government laboratory, like Leidos Biomedical Research
  • 29 for other reasons: smaller hand-audit findings, and links the current open record no longer supports

If a partner is missing or should not be here, send the evidence; corrections are free and reviewed against the public record.

For your communications

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GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform

Where Universidad Carlos III de Madrid's collaboration could go next

This profile is free and public, and it stays that way. Beyond it, the GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform, a partner service arranged with each university, sets your record in both GRP indices beside the peers you choose: the universities and companies your peers work with that you do not, live funding calls matched to your strengths, the EU projects your peers have won, and a brief ready for your executive. It opens to partner universities on Monday 19 October 2026: enquire, and the GRP team will confirm availability and pricing for your university.

Request first access →  See what is inside →

The platform cannot move any university's position, band or score.

The other GRP index

Research Collaboration Index

In the Research Collaboration Index 2026, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ranks #847 of 1,195. It measures the whole research network, not only industry.

View the RCI profile →

Something wrong? Every figure comes from the public record and can be checked. If a partner is missing or should not be there, tell us and we will review it with the evidence. The 2027 edition will be calculated with the same published methodology. The window for universities to submit data for it is open now: submit data for the 2027 edition. The index is free, public and independent. No commercial relationship with any university or company changes any position, and no one can pay to be included, excluded or moved.