In the latest edition of the ‘Times’ university rankings, Austrian universities have moved only slightly closer to the government target of having two domestic universities in the top 100 by 2030. As the best Austrian institution, the University of Vienna improved by nine places to 110th. For everyone else, however, the top 100 places remain far away.
According to the latest edition of the “Times Higher Education World University Ranking”, the dream of being among the top 100 remains a distant dream for Austrian universities. The government’s goal was to have two local universities in the top 100 by 2030.
Only the University of Vienna registers an increasing trend
Only the University of Vienna was able to continue the upward trend of recent years – it rose nine places to 110th as the best Austrian institution. Research can be cited here as an indicator for improvement. For everyone else, the top 100 places remain far away: the next places are the Austrian universities (medical universities in Vienna and Graz) outside the top 200.
Just like last year, the medical universities of Vienna and Graz remain in positions 201 to 250 (from 201 onwards the ranking is in steps of 50, later in 100 and 200). As in last year’s rankings, the Medical University of Innsbruck ended up in places 251-300, while the Technical University of Vienna (TU) dropped from this range to places 301-350. The University of Innsbruck is still located there.
The rest of the facilities lag far behind
There were also no changes to the rankings for the next ranked domestic universities. The University of Linz remains in places 401-500, the universities of Klagenfurt and Graz are even in places 501-600.
Behind it, TU Graz lost places and finished in the ranking 601-800 (last year: 501-600), and the University of Salzburg is also still there. Montanuni Leoben reached the top 1,000 this year (places 801-1,000).
Once again in first place: University of Oxford
First place in the “Times” ranking goes to the University of Oxford (Great Britain) for the ninth time in a row. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) follows in second place and Harvard University (both US) in third place. The best continental European and German-speaking university is ETH Zurich (Switzerland), still in eleventh place, and the best German university is TU Munich, which improved to 26th place.
The authors of the ranking generally note a downward trend, especially among Western European universities. Despite many top places, these tend to lose ground – while there were 99 European universities in the top 200 last year, this year there are only 91.
Asian universities are catching up
About ten French institutions recorded their worst ranking since the ranking was introduced, and two-thirds of Dutch universities are also affected by the trend reversal. Conversely, many Asian universities improved. Two Chinese universities (Tsinghua University and Peking University) are already close to the top ten, with places 12 and 13.
The long-standing ranking methodology changed slightly last year. There are now 18 indicators to properly assess universities. This includes the areas of education, research environment and quality, internationalization and cooperation with the business community. This time, 157 million citations of scientific publications were analyzed and 93,000 scientists worldwide were interviewed.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
