University leaders pay close attention to comparative rankings such as those offered by Times Higher Education, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy and others. Rankings influence student matriculation numbers, attract talented faculty and justify donations from wealthy donors. University leaders rail against them, and some schools “withdraw” from them, but rankings are influential. A radical shift in the data underlying rankings is about to upend the […] … learn more→

We rank almost everything. The top 10 restaurants in our vicinity, the best cities to visit, the best movies to watch. To understand whether the rankings were any good you’d want know who was doing the ranking. And what it was they were looking for. These are exactly the same questions that are worth asking […] … learn more→

For yet another year, Jiao Tong University (in the Chinese city of Shanghai) has presented the results of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), more popularly known as the Shanghai ranking . And, as usually happens every year, its publication arouses interest in the media, although not so much within the academic community. Any […] … learn more→

The world of higher education and research is now punctuated by seasonal announcements of the results of “rankings”. Since 2003, when the first ranking of world universities was published by a research team from the Chinese Jiaotong University in Shanghai, meetings have multiplied. Alongside the generalist rankings established annually by the British press group Times Higher Education (since […] … learn more→

Skepticism has long reigned about Chinese universities and the publications of their researchers. But, over the past twenty years, the situation has changed dramatically. The Chinese state has invested in universities, reformed them to make them world leaders. What is the current state of affairs? Chinese universities are part of a system that may have been inspired by that of the […] … learn more→

Many critics of Russia’s 5-100 Project have declared it a failure since it has not fulfilled its defining aim of catapulting five Russian universities into the top 100 of the global university rankings. But as the Russian government discusses a new initiative to succeed the seven-year $2.3 billion (£1.7 billion) programme, it is worth pointing […] … learn more→

Each year, the rankings of universities flourish, causing the same stir as the publication of major gastronomic guides. Who will be in the “top 50”? Have we made progress? Where are the neighboring universities (friends, nonetheless competing)? These questions stir the heads of higher education institutions. In fact, these rankings would hold larger global stock markets that are the Dow Jones […] … learn more→

Once again, Times Higher Education’s annual global university rankingshave drawn a lot of attention from the media and in the higher education sector. In South Africa, this has focused on the four institutions from the country that made the top 500 on the 2019 list. Of the four, the University of KwaZulu-Natal maintained its 2018 ranking. […] … learn more→

Each year the release of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings generates a great deal of interest, excitement – and debate. This year all eyes are on China which, according to the 2018 rankings, “steps up its ascent” as “East closes in on West”. China’s Tsinghua University in 22nd place has overtaken all of its other […] … learn more→

University rankings can be highly influential. They can help prospective students to narrow down their choice of institution and, of course, they also give universities something to brag about. The UK’s elite institutions, Oxford and Cambridge, continue to occupy the top two posts in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings And many other UK universities […] … learn more→