Versión en Español
Universities that can really give a lesson or two.
They all have Nobel laureates among the staff. Between them, they hold the best researchers and their students will be the most powerful men and women in the coming decades. Harvard, Cambridge and Yale are the most famous, but there are others.
Compiling rankings of universities has a long tradition in the English-speaking world. Several publications put together lists based on different assessments. The most famous ranking is the one published every year by the London-based newspaper, The Times, in its supplement, The Times Higher Education. However, the most prestigious and professionally recognised ranking of the best universities in the world is the one compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China).
The Times establishes its ranking based on a peer review survey which asks more than 3,700 academics from across the world to select the best 30 universities, information supplied by more than 700 companies which have hired graduates, and the international prestige of the university’s professors.
A very detailed study
In the case of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in addition to quality criteria, such as the level of the students, lecturers, institution and research activity, the added value of the ranking comes from former alumni.
Its ranking is based on a formula which takes into account the number of students and staff who have received Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (the International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics granted by the International Mathematical Union every four years). The Fields Medal has the same international prestige as the Nobel Prize, which does not exist for mathematics. The ranking also takes into consideration the number of highly cited researchers on 21 general topics, the number of articles published in the scientific journals, Science and Nature and the impact of academic work registered in Science Citation Index.
Academic excellence speaks English
In both cases, one thing remains very clear: the best universities in the world are in the United States and Great Britain. Synonymous with excellence and prestige, the universities in these countries have no rivals. According to analysts, the supremacy of North American and British universities could only be challenged in the coming years by the advances of Asian institutions.
What is already nearly a tradition is that Harvard continues to be recognised as the most prestigious university in the world. Despite the financial problems it seems to be facing, for years this university has been holding on to its prestigious place at the top of any ranking.
Did you like Universities that can really give a lesson or two.?
Compártelo en
Published in Education and Training by Jorge Borrajo on 30/05/2010
This article has been read 1274 .
