The Autonomous University of Madrid (Spanish: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; UAM) is a Spanish public university established in 1968. It is located in northern Madrid; its main campus, Cantoblanco, is located near the cities of Alcobendas, San Sebastián de los Reyes and Tres Cantos.
Throughout its history, the UAM has been one of Spain's most prominent higher education institutions, being ranked first amongst Spanish universities by the El Mundo University Supplement (known as "Las 50 Carreras"), by The Times Higher Education Supplement, and by the Academic Ranking of World Universities yearly published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In the rankings on education, the UAM has positioned itself as one of the best young universities in the world (it is the Spanish university best placed in the 2018 edition of the QS Top 50 Under 50 Ranking, and the third best positioned in Europe), with an outstanding international projection in the field of research. For the subject "Mathematics" the university was ranked within top 51-75 universities in the world (within top 12 in Europe). In the "Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 University Rankings", the University achieved 49th position globally in 2012. In another similar ranking "QS Top 50 Under 50" by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the Autonomous University of Madrid recently achieved 9th place in international comparison. Its Faculty of Law is the most prestigious one in Spain. It is the Spanish university with the most researchers among the most cited according to the Thomson Reuters ranking citation in 2011.