The Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche is the top Valencian public university in terms of scientific production per faculty member. This is a finding from the third report on the Valencian Public University System (SUPV), The Socioeconomic Contribution from Valencian Public Universities (2015), by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE).

According to this document, if research activity is analyzed per faculty member, the UMH occupies first place within the Valencian Community, a lead it has held since 2002; on a Spanish national level the UMH is sixth, with average productivity per faculty member of 1.33 publications per year. If research activity is analyzed by production volume, then the UMH sits in second place, behind only the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Whereas if the number of cites a scientific paper receives is evaluated, which is a parameter used to established the international quality of scientific work, both the UMH and the UPV receive 10 cites per faculty member. This figure places them at the top of Valencian public universities and furthermore among the top 9 in all of Spain.

The report also reveals that the within the SUPV, UMH is the second most productive university overall with an index of 1.2, behind the UPV, which obtained an index of 1.4. These data are taken from the International U-ranking produced by the BBVA Foundation, which analyzes different areas such as teaching, research, and technology transfer.

Regarding the evolution of university student enrollment, the UMH is the sole Valencian public university to have increased its student enrollment in the current bachelor’s and former first and second cycle programs over the last 15 years – it grew by 50%, a figure well above the Spanish average. In graduate programs, the UMH sits in third position within the community. The report also reveals that the training activities for master’s programs at the UMH (graduate students/instructor) are the most productive within the SUPV and all Spanish public universities.

According to the report, the UMH is the Valencian public university with the highest ability to attract students, as some 20% of them come from outside the Valencian Community. Moreover, the UMH has the highest growth rate of its graduates, with an increase of 160% in its bachelor’s programs and 1,061% in its master’s programs.

The study also indicates that the UMH is internationalizing itself more every year by sending and receiving increasing numbers of international exchange students. The figures for them grew from 56 incoming students in 2001-02 to 222 in 2014-15, while outgoing students grew from 74 to 149 for the same period.

These are some of the conclusions from the third report on the SUPV, The Socioeconomic Contribution from Valencian Public Universities (2015), by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE) on the activity and results from the five institutions that comprise the SUPV: the University of Valencia, Universitat Politècnica de València, University of Alicante, Universitat Jaume I, and Miguel Hernández University of Elche.

The complete report is available at the following link: http://www.ivie.es/downloads/2016/01/Informe-Completo-SUPV.pdf