Rank	Institution	Change from 2020	ARWU	QS	THE	USNWR	Average World Rank
UR	Karolinska Institute 🇸🇪	NA	42	NR	39	48	43
🥇	University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰	–	30	79	96	37	60.5
🥈	University of Oslo 🇳🇴	+1	61	102	119	90	93
🥉	University of Helsinki 🇫🇮	-1	82	104	101	94	95.25
4	Aarhus University 🇩🇰	+1	71	155	104	103	108.25
5	Uppsala University 🇸🇪	-1	78	124	131	113	111.5
6	Lund University 🇸🇪	–	151	87	116	95	112.25
7	Stockholm University 🇸🇪	–	74	148	176	123	130.25
8	Technical University of Denmark 🇩🇰	–	151	99	185	161	149
9	University of Gothenburg 🇸🇪	–	101	180	185	134	150
10	KTH Royal Institute of Technology 🇸🇪	–	201	89	201	212	175.75
11	University of Bergen 🇳🇴	–	301	199	201	183	221
12	Aalto University 🇫🇮	+1	301	112	201	275	222.25
13	Aalborg University 🇩🇰	+1	301	326	201	241	267.25
14	Chalmers University of Technology 🇸🇪	-2	401	121	251	339	278
15	University of Southern Denmark 🇩🇰	+1	301	309	251	255	279
UR	Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 🇸🇪	NA	201	NR	301	348	~283.3
16	Norwegian University of Science and Technology 🇳🇴	-1	101	369	401	266	284.25
UR	Reykjavík University 🇮🇸	NA	NR	NR	301	NR	301
17	Linköping University 🇸🇪	+2	301	329	251	350	307.75
18	University of Turku 🇫🇮	-1	301	295	351	327	318.5
19	University of Oulu 🇫🇮	NA	401	377	251	422	362.75
20	Umeå University 🇸🇪	-2	401	365	351	335	363

This is a ranking of the top 20 Nordic universities of 2021.

Overview

The ranking was created by using metadata sourced from the four prominent rankings of world universities (each ranking released in 2021): Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), and U.S. News & World Report (USNWR).

Rank was determined on each list for every Nordic university ranked on each list. If a ranking used a range, the highest possible rank was chosen (e.g., if a university was ranked within a 201-250 bracket, 201 was chosen). Then for each university all its rank placements were averaged across lists to create the new list of average ranking for each university. The universities were then ranked according to their average ranking. The university with the highest average is thus ranked 1st, the one with the second highest average 2nd, and so on.

Finally, the results were tabled, and are shown above (Figure 1). The leftmost column shows rank based on average, the “institution” column shows the institution ranked, the “Change from 2020” column shows the change in ranking placement from last year’s ranking (Ranking of Nordic Universities, 2020), the next four rightward columns (ARWU, QS, THE, USNWR) show the rank for each given institution in each of those selected world rankings, and the rightmost column (“Average World”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.

Only universities which were ranked on all four lists are counted. Universities which would have appeared had they been ranked by all the rankings are displayed in the ranking where they would have ranked if their average rank was the result of an average across all four rankings. Thus, for example, Karolinska Institute is shown above the #1 ranked University of Copenhagen, as it would have ranked #1 if it appeared on all four rankings (and maintained its average from the rankings it did appear on). Rather than receiving a ranking placement, universities appearing in these positions are marked “UR” (unrankable) in the rank column, and “NR” (not ranked) in rankings lists in which they were not ranked.

Observations

• ARWU best predicts the summed average.
• QS worst predicts the summed average.

In my opinion, global university rankings are not a measure of how “good” a university is. They are, centrally, a measure of university reputation among people in administrative positions in academics. How good a university is for you depends on what your goals are. It is almost entirely contextual. Thus, the rankings I do — which are based on average placements in world university rankings — ought to be seen not as a measure of how good a university is, but as a measure of the average opinion of an academic administrator you’ll get if you ask them to talk about a given university from a global perspective. In this spirit, I offer you a deflationary university ranking.

If anything appears to be in error, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.

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