 UAB is a pioneering institution in terms of fostering research.There are many research institutes in the campus, as well as other research centers, technical support services, and service-providing laboratories, and the ALBA (synchrotron) located in the Barcelona Synchrotron Park is very close to UAB.UAB is the second best university in Spain, after the University of Barcelona, located in the same city, according to the 2020 QS World University Rankings, which ranked the university 176th overall in the world.