UdL Gains in National Top Researcher Ranking

Universitat de Lleida said in May 2026 that 72 of its women researchers appear in the latest Spanish National Research Council, or CSIC, ranking of the most prominent women conducting research in Spain. Segre reported the total was four higher than in the 2025 edition, and UdL’s own website carried the same headline figure in its latest update. IRBLleida, the biomedical research institute in Lleida, said 22 of those researchers are affiliated with the institute. The ranking update arrived as Lleida hosted this year’s Pint of Science events, a public-outreach program built around talks in bars. The 72 figure adds to a recent run of gains for UdL in the same CSIC list. UdL said in July 2024 that 53 of its women researchers were included, while a later university note said the total had risen to 68 in the 2025 edition before moving higher again in the 2026 update. On the English-language version of the university site, UdL said Luisa F. Cabeza of the Escola Politècnica Superior remained the institution’s highest-placed researcher. (segre.com) ### Which ranking is UdL talking about? The CSIC ranking cited by UdL and local media tracks women researchers in Spain using Google Scholar-based indicators, according to earlier university descriptions of the list. UdL’s 2024 note said 29 of its researchers were among the top 5,000 nationwide in that edition, offering a sense of the scale of the database. The 2026 updates from UdL, IRBLleida and Segre all describe the latest publication as the current CSIC ranking for prominent women researchers in Spain. (udl.cat) ### How much did the total increase this year? Segre reported on May 19 that UdL had 72 researchers in the 2026 update, up four from 2025. UdL’s own prior notice on the 2025 edition said the university had 68 researchers in that release, which matches the year-over-year increase cited by Segre. A separate UdL page available on May 20 referred to 73 researchers and said the increase versus 2025 was five, suggesting the university may have updated the count again after the first reports were published. (udl.cat) ### Who stands out inside Lleida’s research base? IRBLleida said on May 15 that 22 of the women in the CSIC ranking are affiliated with the institute. The institute also repeated the university-wide total of 72 researchers in the ranking. UdL’s site said Luisa F. Cabeza remained the best-positioned researcher from the university in the latest list. (segre.com) ### Why is Pint of Science part of this story? Segre linked the ranking update to the start of Pint of Science in Lleida, describing the initiative as a way to bring scientific developments closer to the public. The newspaper said the program began at Pub Legend with talks by Gabriel de la Fuente and Marc Teixidó, with Teixidó speaking about water management. UdL’s agenda listed Pint of Science 2026 events on May 18 and May 20 at the same venue. (irblleida.org) ### What does the recent sequence show at UdL? UdL’s published totals show a steady increase across successive editions: 53 researchers in July 2024, 68 in the 2025 edition cited by the university, and 72 in the 2026 update cited by Segre, IRBLleida and the university homepage. Those figures are from institutional statements rather than an independently browsable CSIC ranking page, which was blocked in search results, but the numbers are consistent across several Lleida-based sources. (segre.com) UdL’s public calendar showed the next immediate outreach events in Lleida on May 20, including two Pint of Science talks at 7 p.m. at Pub Legend. The university also listed a new science-outreach series in city neighborhoods beginning on May 28 in Balàfia with a talk on the brain. (udl.cat) (udl.cat)