LMU Munich – S.N. McGannon

Posted on October 30, 2021October 30, 2021 by snmcgannon · 1 Comment

Ranking of Universities in the European Union, 2021

Rank	Institution	Change from 2020	ARWU	QS	THE	USNWR	Average World Rank
UR	Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) University 🇫🇷	NA	38	44	40	NR	~ 40.67
UR	Karolinska Institute 🇸🇪	NA	42	NR	39	48	43
🥇	Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich 🇩🇪	–	48	64	32	46	47.5
🥈	Technical University of Munich 🇩🇪	–	52	50	38	74	53.5
🥉	Heidelberg University 🇩🇪	–	57	63	42	54	54
4	Sorbonne University 🇫🇷	+1	35	72	88	46	60.25
5	University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰	-1	30	79	96	37	60.5
6	Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven 🇧🇪	+1	87	70	42	48	61.75
7	University of Amsterdam 🇳🇱	-1	101	55	65	38	64.75
8	Paris-Saclay University 🇫🇷	NA	13	86	117	60	69
9	Utrecht University 🇳🇱	-1	50	110	69	48	69.25
UR	Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin 🇩🇪	NA	NR	NR	73	NR	73
10	Leiden University 🇳🇱	–	83	112	71	82	87
11	Wageningen University & Research 🇳🇱	+2	101	123	53	80	89.25
12	University of Groningen 🇳🇱	-1	64	128	80	88	90
UR	Humboldt University of Berlin 🇩🇪	NA	NR	128	74	78	~ 93.33
13	University of Helsinki 🇫🇮	-4	82	104	101	94	95.25
14	Ghent University 🇧🇪	-2	71	141	96	92	100
UR	Free University of Berlin 🇩🇪	NA	NR	127	83	95	~ 101.67
15	Erasmus University Rotterdam 🇳🇱	–	101	179	72	62	103.5
16	Aarhus University 🇩🇰	–	71	155	104	103	108.25
17	Uppsala University 🇸🇪	-3	78	124	131	113	111.5
18	Lund University 🇸🇪	-1	151	87	116	95	112.25
19	Delft University of Technology 🇳🇱	-1	151	57	75	174	114.25
20	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 🇳🇱	–	101	209	115	84	127.25

Figure 1. Ranking of universities in the European Union for the year 2021.

This is a ranking of the top 20 universities in the European Union ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2021.

Overview and methodology

The ranking was created by averaging ranking placements 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 (T H E), and U.S. News & World Report (USNWR).

Rank was checked on each list for every EU university ranked on each of the lists. 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, as shown above. The leftmost column shows the final rank (which is relative placement based on average rank, i.e.). The next, institution, column shows the institution ranked along with the flag of the country in which it is located. The next, change from 2020, column shows the distance moved for each institution compared to the 2020 ranking. 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 Rank”) 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, Humboldt University of Berlin is shown between the 14th and 15th ranked universities, as it would have ranked 15th if it appeared on all four rankings (and maintained its average from the ranking 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

German universities take the top three spots (again).
Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) University would have placed 1st. It had roughly the 41st ranking placement in the world; yet it is still unranked by USNWR, and thus does not qualify. See more about this here.
Meanwhile, Karolinska Institute would have placed 2nd, with a 43 average (unranked by QS).
The Netherlands has the most universities appearing in the top 20, with 8. The Nordic countries, together, have 5. Belgium and France each have two. No other countries make the top 20.
Wageningen University & Research advanced the most places compared to any university which made the list in 2020 and 2021, moving up to 11th from 13th.
Paris-Saclay University debuts for the first time in the top 20, at 8. This marks the largest advancement of any university on the list.
University of Helsinki has moved downward the most places compared to last year, moving out of the top 10, to 13th.
Overall, European Union universities have advanced in world university rankings in 2021. Whereas last year ranked EU universities average sum came out to 1768.25 (2020), this year the sum is 1679 (2021) — a roughly 90 place difference upward. One major contributor to this upward movement is the appearance of Paris-Saclay University at #8. Last year, it was not even near the top 20.
The top 14 EU universities all average within the top 100 worldwide.
Just one EU university — LMU Munich — averages within the top 50 worldwide.
THE 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.

*The header image used in the article is, to the best of my knowledge, in the public domain. If this is in error, please let me know and I will remove it immediately. To report errors, please email me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.

Permalink to this article: https://snmcgannon.com/2021/10/28/ranking-of-universities-in-the-european-union-2021/

Posted on April 8, 2021October 30, 2021 by snmcgannon · 1 Comment

Ranking of Universities in the EU, 2020

*This ranking is for the year 2020. See the newest, 2021, ranking here: https://snmcgannon.com/2021/10/30/ranking-of-universities-in-the-european-union-2021/

Rank	Institution	ARWU	QS	THE	USNWR	Average World Rank
1	LMU Munich 🇩🇪	51	63	32	46	48
2	Heidelberg University 🇩🇪	57	64	42	54	54.25
3	Technical University of Munich 🇩🇪	54	50	41	76	55.25
4	University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰	33	76	84	34	56.75
5	Sorbonne University 🇫🇷	39	83	87	43	63
6	University of Amsterdam 🇳🇱	101	61	66	40	67
7	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 🇧🇪	97	84	45	48	68.5
8	Utrecht University 🇳🇱	52	121	75	54	75.5
9	University of Helsinki 🇫🇮	74	104	98	86	90.5
10	Leiden University 🇳🇱	80	128	70	86	91
11	University of Groningen 🇳🇱	69	128	80	92	92.25
12	Ghent University 🇧🇪	66	135	103	85	97.25
13	Wageningen University & Research 🇳🇱	151	115	62	83	102.75
14	Uppsala University 🇸🇪	77	124	111	101	103.25
15	Erasmus University Rotterdam 🇳🇱	80	197	72	68	104.25
16	Aarhus University 🇩🇰	69	147	106	105	106.75
17	Lund University 🇸🇪	151	97	103	99	112.5
18	Delft University of Technology 🇳🇱	151	57	78	172	114.5
19	University of Freiburg 🇩🇪	101	175	83	168	131.75
20	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 🇳🇱	101	236	116	80	133.25

This is a ranking of the top 20 universities in the European Union ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2020-2021.

The ranking was created by using metadata sourced from the four prominent rankings of world universities (each ranking released in 2020): Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), and U.S. News & World Report (USNWR).

Finally, the results were tabled, as shown above. The leftmost column shows the final rank (which is relative placement based on average rank, i.e.), the “institution” column shows the institution ranked along with the flag of the country in which it is located, 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 Rank”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.

There were 4 institutions which were ranked on three of the four lists which averaged higher (by those three lists) than at least one university which was ranked having been averaged by all four lists. In some cases, had these averages remained given all four lists, the list would look significantly different. Further details:

Karolinska Institute 🇸🇪 (43 average; unranked by QS) would have placed 1st.
Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL) 🇫🇷 (~45 average; unranked USNWR) would have placed 2nd (counting Karolinska). (UPDATE: see * below for further evaluation.)
Humboldt University of Berlin 🇩🇪 (93 average; unranked by ARWU — find further discussion about why that is here) would have placed 14 (counting Karolinska and PSL).
Free University of Berlin 🇩🇪 (~120 average; unranked by ARWU — find further discussion about why that is via the same link as for Humboldt) would not have placed in the top 20 counting the three institutions above, however, its average is higher than those universities currently placing 19th and 20th (Freiburg and VU Amsterdam, respectively).

Additionally, one institution — Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin 🇩🇪 — was ranked such that it would have appeared in the top 20 (given the above additions: 10th), however, this was only based on its placement of 75 on a single ranking (THE).

Finally, some observations about the final ranking —

Netherlands has the most intuitions in the top 20 in the EU, with 8.
Germany has the second most, with 4, and the Nordic countries together have 5.
Belgium and France are the only two countries with at least one university which makes the list outside of the aforementioned regions.
The top 12 universities in the EU all average within the top 100 in the world.

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

* Since creating this list I’ve written an article looking at how USNWR ranks PSL constituents. Ultimately, based on the average of those constituents, PSL’s ranking would place outside the 20 appearing on this list. There are many caveats to this outcome, however. The full article can be found here.

Permalink to this article: https://snmcgannon.com/2021/04/08/ranking-of-universities-in-the-eu-2020-21/

Posted on February 25, 2021May 9, 2021 by snmcgannon · 6 Comments

List of Top 100 Universities by Highest Rank, 2020-21

This is a list of the highest ranking achieved for every university ranked in the top 100 in the world on any of the four prominent world university rankings (ARWU, QS, THE, and USNWR, i.e.). Thus, so long as a university appears on any one of the four rankings, then it appears on this list — and it appears at whichever spot it ranked highest on any one or more of those lists. You can think of this list in the following way: for each given university, its position on this list represents the highest opinion someone holds of it.

Notes —

In total, 154 universities representing 27 countries are ranked within the top 100 in the world between all four lists.
There are 16 top 10 universities, representing 3 countries which are (in order): the US (with 11 — 3 of which are Californian; 2 of which are Massachusettsan), the UK (with 4 — all of which are English), and Switzerland (with 1).
There are 30 top 20 universities, representing 7 countries which are (in order): the US (with 18 — 6 of which are Californian), the UK (with 5 — 4 of which are English; 1 of which is Scottish), Singapore and Switzerland (each with 2), and Canada, China, and France (each with 1).
There are 78 top 50 universities, representing 17 countries which are (in order): the US (with 34 – 7 of which are Californian), the UK (with 8 — 7 of which are English; 1 of which is Scottish), Australia (with 6), China and Hong Kong (each with 4), Canada and Germany (each with 3), France, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland (each with 2), and Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden (each with 1).
The United States is the 1st most represented country, with 51 universities represented (~33%).
The United Kingdom is the 2nd most represented country, with 18 universities (15 of which are English; 3 of which are Scottish) represented (~12%).
The Netherlands is the 3rd most represented country, with 9 universities represented (~6%).
The countries placing 4th – 8th in representation are (in order): Australia (with 8), Germany (with 7), China and Japan (each with 6), Canada, Hong Kong, and Sweden (each with 5).
There are 32 listed universities outside the western world (~21%).
Universities represent 5 continents.

And finally, some thoughts. It is interesting to note that 15 out of 18 ranked UK universities are highest ranked by QS — a UK-based ranking. This means, if nothing stronger, that QS has the highest opinion of British universities of any of the four prominent rankings. True — someone could object and say that whichever ranking truly has the highest opinion of British universities lists the greatest number of British universities, or has the highest average ranking of British universities, etc. But I think what captures the spirit of these lists is highest rank, and when you talk about highest rank, and look up a university to check its rank, the fact is, when its a UK university, QS will tell you that university is ranked more highly than any other ranking would tell you in ranks a large majority of the time. I might also endorse this stronger claim: QS has a bias for British universities. But this would require a more in-depth look at how it ranks universities in other countries, and also how other rankings rank British universities compared to other countries, etc., and I haven’t looked into it that deeply or in a sufficiently comparative way to fully endorse that claim. But nonetheless, this result is certainly suggestive, and looking for other indicators even superficially shows that a good number of the British universities ranked within the top 100 by QS don’t appear at all in other top 100s. This is definitely something that someone can and should look at further (and perhaps they have).

Along the same lines, 23 out of 27 East and Southeast Asian universities are highest ranked by QS (along with one additional such university ranked equally by THE). Thus, we can again conclude (as above) that QS has the highest opinion of universities in those regions. It’s still not strong enough for bias — but as with the above observation, this is suggestive and someone might be inclined to take a look.

Meanwhile, out of 47 U.S. universities which are highest ranked by only one ranking (i.e., for which there is no shared opinion about its highest placement), only 5 are highest ranked by QS. Meanwhile, ARWU accounts for 18 such rankings, USNWR 15, and THE 9. Thus, we can safely conclude that QS has the lowest opinion of U.S. universities of the four rankings. THE — at 9 — is closer to QS than to USNWR, but just barely. It’s clear that the UK rankings (QS and THE) have a lower opinion of U.S. universities than the Chinese (ARWU) and U.S. (USNWR) rankings.

To sum up:

QS has the highest opinion of British and East and Southeast Asian universities, and the lowest opinion of U.S. universities.
USNWR has the highest opinion of Australian universities.
And the strongest conclusion: British rankings (QS, THE) have a lower opinion of U.S. universities than Chinese and U.S. rankings (ARWU, USNWR) do.

Below you can view the list. If you should find something here is in error, please contact me at tuulifunctional@snmcgannon.com.

Rank	Institution
1	Harvard University 🇺🇸 (ARWU, USNWR) Massachusetts Institute of Technology 🇺🇸 (QS) University of Oxford 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (THE)
2	Stanford University 🇺🇸 (ARWU, QS, THE)
3	University of Cambridge 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (ARWU)
4	California Institute of Technology 🇺🇸 (QS) University of California, Berkeley 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
5	–
6	Columbia University 🇺🇸 (USNWR) ETH Zürich 🇨🇭(QS) Princeton University 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
7	–
8	Imperial College London 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS) University of Washington 🇺🇸 (USNWR) Yale University 🇺🇸 (THE)
9	University of Chicago 🇺🇸 (QS)
10	Johns Hopkins University 🇺🇸 (USNWR) University College London 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS)
11	National University of Singapore 🇸🇬 (QS)
12	Cornell University 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
13	Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 🇸🇬 (QS) University of California, Los Angeles 🇺🇸 (ARWU, USNWR) University of Pennsylvania 🇺🇸 (THE)
14	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne 🇨🇭(QS) University of Paris-Saclay 🇫🇷 (ARWU)
15	Tsinghua University 🇨🇳 (QS) University of California, San Fransisco 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
16	–
17	University of Michigan, Ann-Arbor 🇺🇸 (USNWR) University of Toronto 🇨🇦 (USNWR)
18	University of California, San Diego 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
19	–
20	Duke University 🇺🇸 (THE) University of Edinburgh 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (QS)
21	–
22	University of Hong Kong 🇭🇰 (QS)
23	Peking University 🇨🇳 (QS, THE) Washington University in St. Louis 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
24	Northwestern University 🇺🇸 (THE, USNWR) University of Tokyo 🇯🇵 (QS)
25	University of Melbourne 🇦🇺 (USNWR)
26	New York University 🇺🇸 (THE)
27	Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 🇭🇰 (QS) London School of Economics 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (THE) University of Manchester 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS) University of Sydney 🇦🇺 (USNWR)
28	Carnegie Mellon University 🇺🇸 (THE)
29	–
30	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
31	Australian National University 🇦🇺 (QS) King’s College London 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS) McGill University 🇨🇦 (QS) University of British Columbia 🇨🇦 (USNWR)
32	LMU Munich 🇩🇪 (THE) University of Wisconsin-Madison 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
33	University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰 (ARWU)
34	Fudan University 🇨🇳 (QS) Kyoto University 🇯🇵 (ARWU)
35	–
36	Karolinska Institute 🇸🇪 (THE) Paris Sciences et Lettres University 🇫🇷 (ARWU) University of Queensland 🇦🇺 (USNWR)
37	Seoul National University 🇰🇷 (QS)
38	Georgia Institute of Technology 🇺🇸 (THE) University of Texas at Austin 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
39	Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology 🇰🇷 (QS) Sorbonne University 🇫🇷 (ARWU)
40	University of Amsterdam 🇳🇱 (USNWR) University of Minnesota 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
41	Technical University of Munich 🇩🇪 (THE)
42	Heidelberg University 🇩🇪 (THE) King Abdulaziz University 🇸🇦 (USNWR)
43	Chinese University of Hong Kong 🇭🇰 (QS) Rockefeller University 🇺🇸 (ARWU) University of Pittsburgh 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
44	University of Colorado at Boulder 🇺🇸 (ARWU) University of New South Wales 🇦🇺 (QS)
45	Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) 🇧🇪 (THE) Ohio State University 🇺🇸 (USNWR) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
46	–
47	Shanghai Jiao Tong University 🇨🇳 (QS)
48	City University of Hong Kong 🇭🇰 (QS) Monash University 🇦🇺 (USNWR) University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
49	University of California, Santa Barbara 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
50	–
51	–
52	Utrecht University 🇳🇱 (ARWU)
53	University of Maryland, College Park 🇺🇸 (ARWU) University of Southern California 🇺🇸 (THE) Zhejiang University 🇨🇳 (QS)
54	Boston University 🇺🇸 (THE)
55	–
56	Tokyo Institute of Technology 🇯🇵 (QS) University of Zürich 🇨🇭 (ARWU)
57	Delft University of Technology 🇳🇱 (QS)
58	University of Bristol 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS)
59	University of Geneva 🇨🇭 (ARWU) University of Malaya 🇲🇾 (QS)
60	Brown University 🇺🇸 (QS) University of Oslo 🇳🇴 (ARWU)
61	École Polytechnique 🇫🇷 (QS)
62	Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 🇺🇸 (USNWR) University of Warwick 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS) Vanderbilt University 🇺🇸 (ARWU) Wageningen University and Research 🇳🇱 (THE)
63	–
64	University of California, Davis 🇺🇸 (THE)
65	University of Paris 🇫🇷 (ARWU)
66	Ghent University 🇧🇪 (ARWU) National Taiwan University 🇹🇼 (QS) University of Buenos Aires 🇦🇷 (QS)
67	University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 🇺🇸 (ARWU)
68	Erasmus University Rotterdam 🇳🇱 (USNWR)
69	Aarhus University 🇩🇰 (ARWU) Korea University 🇰🇷 (QS) McMaster University 🇨🇦 (THE) Stockholm University 🇸🇪 (ARWU) University of California, Irvine 🇺🇸 (ARWU) University of Groningen 🇳🇱 (ARWU)
70	Leiden University 🇳🇱 (THE)
71	Emory University 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
72	Osaka University 🇯🇵 (QS)
73	University of Adelaide 🇦🇺 (USNWR) University of Montreal 🇨🇦 (THE) University of Science and Technology of China 🇨🇳 (ARWU)
74	Lomonosov Moscow State University 🇷🇺 (QS) University of Helsinki 🇫🇮 (ARWU)
75	Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin 🇩🇪 (THE) Hong Kong Polytechnic University 🇭🇰 (QS) Pennsylvania State University 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
76	–
77	Pohang University of Science and Technology 🇰🇷 (QS) University of Glasgow 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (QS) Uppsala University 🇸🇪 (ARWU)
78	University of Tübingen 🇳🇱 (THE)
79	Purdue University 🇺🇸 (ARWU) Tohoku University 🇯🇵 (QS) University of Western Australia 🇦🇺 (USNWR)
80	Humboldt University of Berlin 🇩🇪 (THE) Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 🇳🇱 (USNWR)
81	University of Auckland 🇳🇿 (QS) University of California, Santa Cruz 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
82	–
83	Nagoya University 🇯🇵 (ARWU) University of Freiburg 🇩🇪 (THE)
84	–
85	Yonsei University 🇰🇷 (QS)
86	Durham University 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS)
87	University of Birmingham 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS) University of Bonn 🇩🇪 (ARWU)
88	University of Basel 🇨🇭 (ARWU) University of Florida 🇺🇸 (ARWU) Sungkyunkwan University 🇰🇷 (QS)
89	Rice University 🇺🇸 (QS)
90	University of Barcelona 🇪🇸 (USNWR) University of Southampton 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS)
91	University of Leeds 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS)
92	–
93	University of Sheffield 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS) Weizmann Institute of Science 🇮🇱 (ARWU)
94	–
95	–
96	University of St. Andrews 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (QS)
97	Lund University 🇸🇪 (QS) University of Arizona 🇺🇸 (USNWR)
98	KTH Royal Institute of Technology 🇸🇪 (QS)
99	Université Grenoble Alpes 🇫🇷 (ARWU) University of Nottingham 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (QS)
100	Michigan State University 🇺🇸 (USNWR) Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 🇲🇽 (QS)

Table 1.

Permalink: https://snmcgannon.com/2021/02/24/list-of-top-100-universities-by-highest-rank-2020-21/

Posted on February 18, 2021April 17, 2021 by snmcgannon · 1 Comment

Ranking of Universities in Germany, 2020-21

Published by S. N. McGannon, Feb. 18, 2021

This is a ranking of the top 25 universities in Germany ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2020-2021.

Rank was checked on each list for every university in Germany ranked on each of the lists. 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 below (Table 1.). The leftmost column shows the final relative placement (relative placement based on average rank, i.e.), the “institution” column shows the institution ranked, 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 Rank”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.

A final note about the table below: because of a dispute regarding Nobel prize attribution, ARWU does not rank Humboldt University Berlin or Free University of Berlin. However, because both universities average so highly between the other three rankings, I previously made the choice to display these universities with their three-rank average among the ranked universities in the place they would occupy were the three-rank average their overall average (see some previous explanation here; and for reference see here). I again chose to undertake this procedure for this ranking. Their rank is simply listed as ‘(NR)’ ( = not ranked). Additionally, another university also unranked by ARWU (University of Mannheim) ends up in the top 25 under this procedure. While I don’t know why ARWU doesn’t rank this university, because it is the only other university which averages in the top 25 when its three-rank average is taken as its average, I have included this university in its would-be place as well.

Some observations —

The original ranking which best predicts the summed average is USNWR.
The original ranking which most poorly predicts the summed average is QS.
QS is the only ranking which fails to place LMU Munich 1st.

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

Rank	Institution	ARWU	QS	THE	USNWR	Average World Rank
1	LMU Munich	51	63	32	46	48
2	Heidelberg University	57	64	42	54	54.25
3	Technical University of Munich	54	50	41	76	55.25
(NR)	Humboldt University Berlin	(NR)	117	80	82	93
(NR)	Free University of Berlin	(NR)	130	118	111	~120
4	University of Freiburg	101	175	83	168	131.75
5	University of Bonn	87	240	114	114	138.75
6=	University of Tuebingen	151	175	78	180	146
6=	University of Goettingen	101	195	130	158	146
8	RWTH Aachen University	201	145	107	184	159.25
9	Technical University of Dresden	201	173	152	186	178
10	University of Hamburg	201	228	135	155	179.75
11	Karlsruhe Institute of Technology	201	131	201	197	182.5
12	University of Cologne	151	282	145	232	202.5
13	Goethe University Frankfurt	101	311	251	222	221.25
14	Technical University of Berlin	301	148	140	338	231.75
15	University of Muenster	151	356	195	236	234.5
16	University of Erlangen-Nuremberg	201	317	198	238	238.5
17	University of Wuerzburg	201	437	140	186	241
18	University of Ulm	301	344	140	316	275.25
19	University of Mainz	201	403	301	214	279.75
20	University of Kiel	201	501	251	274	306.75
21	University of Jena	401	323	251	395	342.5
22	Ruhr University Bochum	401	439	251	372	365.75
23	Technical University of Darmstadt	401	267	301	543	378
(NR)	University of Mannheim	(NR)	307	140	706	~384
24	University of Duisburg-Essen	301	751	201	285	384.5
25	University of Stuttgart	301	333	351	564	387.25

Table 1.

Permalink: https://snmcgannon.com/2021/02/18/ranking-of-universities-in-germany-2020-21/

The header image is under the Creative Commons license.

Posted on February 13, 2021May 9, 2021 by snmcgannon · 1 Comment

Ranking of Universities in the German-speaking World, 2020-21

Published Feb. 13, 2021 by S. N. McGannon

This is a ranking of the top 20 universities in the German-speaking world ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2020-2021. In this ranking the “German-speaking world” is defined as being constituted by the following countries: Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Also, this ranking is for universities in the German-speaking world. Thus, even a university whose primary instruction language is not German (ala University of Geneva) is ranked so long as it is physically located within the German-speaking world.

Rank was checked on each list for every university in the German-speaking world ranked on all the lists. 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 below (Table 1.). The leftmost column shows the final relative placement (relative placement based on average rank, i.e.), the “institution” column shows the institution ranked along with the flag of the country in which it is located, 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 Rank”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.

Please note: Due to historical disputes regarding Nobel prize attribution between Free University of Berlin and Humboldt University of Berlin, neither university appears on ARWU’s ranking. However, both universities rank within the top 130 universities in the world (and even as high as 80) on all the other rankings. Thus, I personally feel this ranking would not adequately represent the top universities in the German-speaking world without these two universities. However, as I could not average their placement between the four rankings, and whereas all other universities appearing on the list could be averaged by placement across all four rankings (as I’ve sometimes waved the requirement that a university rank on all four lists if universities are lacking for that particular list), I have chosen to list Humboldt University of Berlin and Free University of Berlin with their average across the three rankings on which they appear — QS, THE, and USNWR — as unranked in my relative metaranking, but, as ranked in the “Average World Rank” column and thereby placed among the other universities accordingly within my relative ranking (i.e. where they would appear were their average world rank sufficient to rank them). So, Humboldt University of Berlin appears after 6th-place University of Zurich and before 7th-place University of Geneva for the reason that its average world rank (based on those three rankings in which it is ranked) lies between the two. The same procedure has been applied for Free University of Berlin. In this regard, ‘(NR)‘ appears on the list and means “not ranked”.

Some observations —

The original ranking which best predicts the summed average is ARWU.
The original ranking which most poorly predicts the summed average is THE.
The worst prediction is QS’s University of Bonn 240 — 101.25 places greater than its 138.75 average.
No list predicts the top 10.
The only university to make the list not located in Germany or Switzerland is University of Vienna (Austria).

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

Ranking of Universities in the German-speaking World, 2020-21

Rank	Institution	ARWU	QS	THE	USNWR	Average World Rank
1	*ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) 🇨🇭*	20	6	14	26	16.5
2	LMU Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) 🇩🇪	51	63	32	46	48
3	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (*École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne*)🇨🇭	83	14	43	58	49.5
4	*Heidelberg University (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg)* 🇩🇪	57	64	42	54	54.25
5	*Technical University of Munich (Technische Universität München)* 🇩🇪	54	50	41	76	55.25
6	*University of Zurich (Universität Zürich)* 🇨🇭	56	69	73	62	65
(NR)	Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) 🇩🇪	(NR)	117	80	82	93
7	*University of Geneva (Université de Genève)*🇨🇭	59	106	149	96	102.5
8	*University of Bern (Universität Bern)*🇨🇭	101	114	109	107	107.75
9	*University of Basel (Universität Basel)*🇨🇭	88	149	92	131	115
(NR)	Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin) 🇩🇪	(NR)	130	118	111	~120
10	*University of Freiburg (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)* 🇩🇪	101	175	83	168	131.75
11	*University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)* 🇩🇪	87	240	114	114	138.75
12=	*University of Tübingen (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)* 🇩🇪	151	175	78	180	146
12=	*University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)* 🇩🇪	101	195	130	158	146
14	RWTH *Aachen University (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen)* 🇩🇪	201	145	107	184	159.25
15	*University of Lausanne (Université de Lausanne)*🇨🇭	101	169	191	189	162.5
16	*University of Vienna (Universität Wien)* 🇦🇹	151	150	164	195	165
17	Dresden University of Technology (Technische Universität Dresden) 🇩🇪	201	173	152	186	178
18	*University of Hamburg (Universität Hamburg)* 🇩🇪	201	228	135	155	179.75
19	*Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) 🇩🇪*	201	131	201	197	182.5
20	University of Cologne *(Universität zu Köln)* 🇩🇪	151	282	145	232	202.5

Table 1.

Permalink to this article: https://snmcgannon.com/2021/02/12/ranking-of-universities-in-the-german-speaking-world-2020-21/(opens in a new tab)

Posted on February 9, 2021May 9, 2021 by snmcgannon

Ranking of Universities in the non-English Speaking World, 2020-21

This is a ranking of the top 25 universities in the non-English speaking world ranked relative to each other by average world rank for the year 2020. In this ranking the “non-English speaking world” is defined as all countries excluding the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Rank was checked on each list for every university in the non-English speaking world ranked on all the lists. 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 below (Figure 1). The leftmost column shows the final relative placement (relative placement based on average rank, i.e.), the “institution” column shows the institution ranked along with the flag of the country in which it is located, 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 Rank”) averages the four ranking lists’ rank placement for each university.

Some observations —

No list predicts the top 10.
Every list predicts ETH Zurich as 1st.
Germany is the most represented country in the top 10, with 3 universities.
China is the most represented country overall, with 5 universities.
No university outside Europe, China, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong or South Korea makes the list.

Finally, I want to note that Karolinska Institute (Sweden) averages 43 — good for 6th — between ARWU, THE, and USNWR. However, it is unranked by QS, and is thus left off the ranking. Additionally, Paris Sciences et Lettres University (France) averages ~44 — good for 6th (or 7th if Karolinska Institute is included) — between ARWU, QS, and THE. However, it is unranked by USNWR (though some of its subdivisions are, strangely, individually ranked), and is thus also left off the ranking.

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

Ranking of Universities in the non-English Speaking World, 2020-21

Rank	Institution	ARWU	QS	THE	USNWR	Average World Rank
1	ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich)🇨🇭	20	6	14	26	16.5
2	Tsinghua University (清华大学) 🇨🇳	29	15	20	28	23
3	Peking University (北京大学) 🇨🇳	49	23	23	51	36.5
4	National University of Singapore 🇸🇬	80	11	25	32	37
5	University of Tokyo (東京大学) 🇯🇵	26	24	36	73	39.75
6	Nanyang Technological University 🇸🇬	91	13	47	38	47.25
7	LMU Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) 🇩🇪	51	63	32	46	48
8	Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)🇨🇭	83	14	43	58	49.5
9	Heidelberg University (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg) 🇩🇪	57	64	42	54	54.25
10	Technical University of Munich (Technische Universität München) 🇩🇪	54	50	41	76	55.25
11	University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet) 🇩🇰	33	76	84	34	56.75
12	Kyoto University (京都大学) 🇯🇵	34	38	54	125	62.75
13	Sorbonne University (Sorbonne Université) 🇫🇷	39	83	87	43	63
14	University of Zurich (Universität Zürich)🇨🇭	56	69	73	62	65
15	University of Amsterdam (Universiteit van Amsterdam) 🇳🇱	101	61	66	40	67
16	Catholic University of Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven) 🇧🇪	97	84	45	48	68.5
17	University of Hong Kong (香港大學) 🇭🇰	151	22	39	83	73.75
17	Chinese University of Hong Kong (香港中文大學) 🇭🇰	101	43	56	95	73.75
19	Utrecht University (Universiteit Utrecht) 🇳🇱	52	121	75	54	75.5
20	Seoul National University (서울대학교) 🇰🇷	101	37	60	129	81.75
21	Shanghai Jiao Tong University (上海交通大学) 🇨🇳	63	47	100	122	83
22	Zhejiang University (浙江大学) 🇨🇳	58	53	94	135	85
23	University of Helsinki (Helsingin yliopisto) 🇫🇮	74	104	98	86	90.5
24	Leiden University (Universiteit Leiden) 🇳🇱	80	128	70	86	91
24	Fudan University (复旦大学) 🇨🇳	100	34	70	160	91

Figure 1.

Permalink to this article: https://snmcgannon.com/2021/02/09/ranking-of-universities-in-the-non-english-speaking-world-2020-21/