The first edition of the ranking was published in 2019 and now, for the second time, Grupo de Estudios Avanzados Universitas set out to analyze the evolution of research, development and innovation (R+D+i) in the Chilean university system. A key aspect for a country that seeks to find its space in the information age and where it is key for the innovation ecosystem to have universities articulated with the private and public sectors to generate value from knowledge.

The I+D+i 2021 Ranking has several novelties compared to its 2019 edition. The most obvious is that on this occasion the analysis was not limited only to the group of institutions that offered doctoral programs, but also included all current universities. The idea was to align the ranking with the letter and spirit of the new Higher Education Law, which stipulates that all universities must participate in the generation of knowledge. However, given the lack of data in the sources consulted for some of the institutions included for the first time, several appear with a final score equal to zero.

The ranking considers 13 indicators grouped in three areas:

Capacity and productivity (50%), including:

Number of publications (5%)

Number of publications per academic staff (7.5%)

Number of Fondecyt Projects (5%)

Number of Fondecyt Projects per academic staff (10%)

Number of research centres (10%)

Percentage of accredited doctoral programs (6.25%)

Average years of accreditation of doctoral programs (6.25%)

Impact and quality (30%), including:

Citations per number of publications (8.1%)

H-index (12%)

Percentage of ‘top papers’ (9.9%)

Transfer of innovation (20%), including:

Innovation patents applied for (10%)

Number of Fondef projects (5%)

Number of Fondef projects per academic staff (5%)