Category: STUDY ABROAD INFO – What’s Buzzing

When assessed on the number of universities in the top 200 in relation to GDP per capita, which reflects spending power, the UK and Germany rank highest.

Overall 22 countries are represented in the top 200 list, which draws upon data from the 800 universities from 70 countries in the overall THE World University Rankings.

Best universities in Europe 2016: top 200

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2015-2016 results

Rank	Institution	Country
1	University of Oxford	UK
2	University of Cambridge	UK
3	Imperial College London	UK
4	ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich	Switzerland
5	University College London (UCL)	UK
6	London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)	UK
7	University of Edinburgh	UK
8	King’s College London	UK
9	Karolinska Institute	Sweden
10	LMU Munich	Germany
11	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)	Switzerland
12	KU Leuven	Belgium
13	Heidelberg University	Germany
14	Wageningen University and Research Center	Netherlands
15	Humboldt University of Berlin	Germany
16	Technical University of Munich	Germany
17	École Normale Supérieure	France
18	University of Manchester	UK
19	University of Amsterdam	Netherlands
20	Utrecht University	Netherlands
21	Delft University of Technology	Netherlands
22	Leiden University	Netherlands
23	University of Bristol	UK
24	Durham University	UK
25	Erasmus University Rotterdam	Netherlands
26	Free University of Berlin	Germany
27	University of Groningen	Netherlands
28	University of Glasgow	UK
28	University of Helsinki	Finland
30	University of Tübingen	Germany
31	University of Warwick	UK
32	Uppsala University	Sweden
33	University of Copenhagen	Denmark
34	University of Freiburg	Germany
35	University of St Andrews	UK
36	Maastricht University	Netherlands
37	Lund University	Sweden
38	University of Exeter	UK
39	University of Bonn	Germany
40	University of Sheffield	UK
41	Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)	UK
42	University of Göttingen	Germany
43	École Polytechnique	France
43	University of Basel	Switzerland
45	University of Zurich	Switzerland
46	Aarhus University	Denmark
46	University of Mannheim	Germany
48	RWTH Aachen University	Germany
48	University of Southampton	UK
50	Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa	Italy
51	Pierre and Marie Curie University	France
52	Ghent University	Belgium
53	University of Birmingham	UK
54	University of Bern	Switzerland
55	University of Erlangen-Nuremberg	Germany
56	Radboud University Nijmegen	Netherlands
56	University of Münster	Germany
58	Royal Holloway, University of London	UK
59	Lancaster University	UK
60	University of Geneva	Switzerland
60	University of York	UK
62	University of Leeds	UK
63	University of Oslo	Norway
64	Stockholm University	Sweden
65	Karlsruhe Institute of Technology	Germany
66	University of Sussex	UK
67	University of Vienna	Austria
68	University of Nottingham	UK
69	University of Lausanne	Switzerland
70	Autonomous University of Barcelona	Spain
71	University of East Anglia	UK
71	University of Twente	Netherlands
73	VU University Amsterdam	Netherlands
74	KTH Royal Institute of Technology	Sweden
75	University of Cologne	Germany
76	University of Liverpool	UK
77	TU Dresden	Germany
78	Trinity College Dublin	Republic of Ireland
79	Lomonosov Moscow State University	Russian Federation
80	Pompeu Fabra University	Spain
80	University of Reading	UK
82	Technical University of Denmark	Denmark
82	Université Catholique de Louvain	Belgium
82	University of Leicester	UK
85	University of Aberdeen	UK
86	University of Barcelona	Spain
87	University of Konstanz	Germany
88	Eindhoven University of Technology	Netherlands
88	University College Dublin	Republic of Ireland
90	Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna	Italy
90	University of Gothenburg	Sweden
92	Cardiff University	UK
92	University of Bergen	Norway
94	University of Dundee	UK
94	University of Würzburg	Germany
96	Paris-Sud University	France
97	University of Antwerp	Belgium
98	Ulm University	Germany
99	University of Luxembourg	Luxembourg
100	Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin	Germany
-9	Birkbeck, University of London	UK
	École Normale Supérieure de Lyon	France
	Goethe University Frankfurt	Germany
	Newcastle University	UK
	Paris Diderot University – Paris 7	France
	Queen’s University Belfast	UK
	St George’s, University of London	UK
	University of Duisburg-Essen	Germany
	University of Stuttgart	Germany
	University of Trento	Italy
-9	Joseph Fourier University	France
	Medical University of Vienna	Austria
	Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University	Russian Federation
	Polytechnic University of Milan	Italy
	Royal Veterinary College	UK
	Technical University of Darmstadt	Germany
	Tilburg University	Netherlands
	University of Bologna	Italy
	University of Fribourg	Switzerland
	University of Kiel	Germany
-9	Aalborg University	Denmark
	Aalto University	Finland
	Bielefeld University	Germany
	Chalmers University of Technology	Sweden
	Copenhagen Business School	Denmark
	Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz	Germany
	Paris Descartes University	France
	Sapienza University of Rome	Italy
	Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences	Sweden
	Vienna University of Technology	Austria
-9	Aix-Marseille University	France
	Bayreuth University	Germany
	Linköping University	Sweden
	National University of Ireland, Galway	Republic of Ireland
	Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland	Republic of Ireland
	Tomsk Polytechnic University	Russian Federation
	University of Bath	UK
	University of Iceland	Iceland
	University of Liège	Belgium
	University of Surrey	UK
-9	Justus Liebig University Giessen	Germany
	Ruhr University Bochum	Germany
	Technical University of Dortmund	Germany
	Umeå University	Sweden
	University of Bordeaux	France
	University of Hohenheim	Germany
	University of Innsbruck	Austria
	University of Padua	Italy
	University of Southern Denmark	Denmark
	University of Strasbourg	France
	University of Trieste	Italy
	University of Turku	Finland
-9	Bangor University	UK
	Kazan Federal University	Russian Federation
	Montpellier University	France
	Plymouth University	UK
	University of Essex	UK
	University of Milan	Italy
	University of Turin	Italy
	Vrije Universiteit Brussel	Belgium
-9	Aberystwyth University	UK
	Autonomous University of Madrid	Spain
	Leibniz University of Hanover	Germany
	National Research Nuclear University MePhI	Russian Federation
	Örebro University	Sweden
	Toulouse 1 Capitole University	France
	University of Bremen	Germany
	University of Kent	UK
	University of Naples Federico II	Italy
	University of Navarra	Spain
	University of Pavia	Italy
	VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava	Czech Republic
-9	Loughborough University	UK
	Université Libre de Bruxelles	Belgium
	University of Crete	Greece
	University of Florence	Italy
	University of Greifswald	Germany
	University of Milan-Bicocca	Italy
	University of Stirling	UK
	Verona University	Italy
-9	Instituto Superior Técnico Lisboa	Portugal
	Panthéon-Sorbonne University – Paris 1	France
	Polytechnic University of Turin	Italy
	Swansea University	UK
	UiT The Arctic University of Norway	Norway
	University College Cork	Republic of Ireland
	University of Cyprus	Cyprus
	University of Eastern Finland	Finland
	University of Jyväskylä	Finland
	University of Tartu	Estonia
-9	Graz University of Technology	Austria
	Lille 2 University – Health and Law	France
	National University of Ireland, Maynooth	Republic of Ireland
	Norwegian University of Science and Technology	Norway
	University of Kaiserslautern	Germany
	University of Modena and Reggio Emilia	Italy
	University of Oulu	Finland
	University of Rome II – Tor Vergata	Italy
	University of Rome III	Italy
	University of St Gallen	Switzerland

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-2016 list the best global universities and are the only international university performance tables to judge world class universities across all of their core missions – teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

For many in the international education industry, January isn’t the beginning of a new year but the continuation of the previous, especially for those working to academic cycles. It follows suit that some seeds for business and collaboration in 2015 were sown last year, although developments in the sector will also be dictated by the unpredictable global marketplace. Whether you’re picking up where you left off in 2014 or starting afresh, here are the emerging trends to look out for in the new year. READ MORE

US universities continue to dominate the upper echelons of world rankings, taking 16 of the top 20 spots in Shanghai ranking.

The 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) – compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and colloquially known as the “Shanghai ranking” – was released earlier this month with Asian universities, particularly those from China, gaining ground in this year’s list of the world’s top 500 universities.

However, American universities continued their dominance in the Shanghai tables, taking 16 of the top 20 spots, 52 of the top 100, and accounting for 146 of the 500 institutions listed overall. Harvard was named the top university for the 12th year in a row, with Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of California, Berkeley, and the UK’s University of Cambridge rounding out the top five.

British universities also fared well, placing three in the top 20 (in addition to Cambridge, Oxford was 9th and University College London 20th) and 38 in the top 500. Germany had 39 universities in the top 500. Switzerland showed strong improvement, with ETH Zurich slipping into 19th spot, joining four other Swiss universities in the top 100, the third highest total among nations.

The Shanghai rankings (see the full list here) also showcase strengths in particular subject disciplines, providing additional tables of the world’s top 200 universities in the fields of natural science and mathematics; engineering/technology and computer sciences; life and agricultural sciences; clinical medicine and pharmacy; and social science. In addition, subject rankings are produced for mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, and economics.

American universities fared particularly well in the subject rankings, with Princeton taking top spot in mathematics, Berkeley in physics and chemistry, Harvard in economics/business, and Stanford in computer science. The mathematics rankings showed perhaps the greatest diversity of universities in the top ten, with two French universities (Pierre and Marie Curie University and University of Paris Sud) joining Cambridge, Oxford, and King Abdulaziz University from Saudi Arabia (which had been 22nd in 2013) in the top ten. All universities placing in the top ten for economics, on the other hand, were American.

China continues slow, steady rise

A closer look at the tables demonstrates the growing strength of Asian universities, in particular universities in China. Chinese institutions vaulted up the rankings and now occupy 44 of the top 500 spots (with 32 based in Mainland China), although only nine managed to rank in the top 200, with Peking University, Tsinghua, and Shanghai Jiao Tong all placing in the 101-150 bracket.

The top-ranked universities from Asia were both Japanese, with the University of Tokyo at number 21 and Kyoto University at 26. Japan was the only nation from East and Southeast Asia to place in the top 100. Singapore’s two leading universities, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) also both showed strong gains.

In all, 16 nations had universities in the top 100 and 42 placed at least one institution in the top 500. Traditional research powerhouse Germany placed four universities in the top 100, with Heidelberg University the top-ranked German institution at 49th. The highest-ranking Australian university was Melbourne at 44th, and the top Canadian entry was the University of Toronto at 24th.

Brazil fared relatively well, with six universities in the top 500, although none reached the top 100. South Africa and Egypt were the only countries in Africa to break the top 500, with Cape Town, University of the Witwatersrand, KwaZulu-Natal, and Stellenbosch University from South Africa joining the University of Cairo in Egypt among this year’s top-500 institutions.

The Shanghai rankings are compiled on the basis of six measures:

• the number of alumni winning Nobel prizes and Fields Medals;
• the number of staff winning Nobel prizes and Fields Medals
• the number of highly cited researchers;
• the number of articles published in nature and science;
• the number of articles indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI);
• per capita performance (that is, “The weighted scores of the [other] five indicators divided by the number of full-time equivalent academic staff”).

In total, more than 1,200 universities are measured via the ARWU factors each year with the top 500 resulting scores published online in the annual Shanghai tables.

Verbalisti & ICEF Monitor