Umeå University ranked among world’s best young universities
NEWS
Umeå University has been ranked #51 by the Times Higher Education 2015 ranking of the top 100 universities under 50 years old. The table highlights young institutions “that have shown they can match the ancient global elite.”
Times Higher Education, a weekly magazine based in the United Kingdom, has annually published a world ranking list of universities since 2004. In 2012, they introduced a new list of the world’s best 100 universities under the age of 50 years: Times Higher Education 100 Under 50.
The methodology includes 13 performance indicators grouped into five areas: teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook. This year’s ranking only includes institutions founded in 1965 or later, making this the last year in which Umeå University will be included in the list.
“In the tough competition with other universities around the world it is comforting to know that, despite dropping a few positions this year, Umeå University has been ranked 51st in the world, among the best among the Nordic countries and still in second place in Sweden. We cannot belittle the visibility this gives us especially among students around the world,” says Lena Gustafsson, Vice-Chancellor at Umeå University.
“So many universities in this ranking have shown they can match the ancient global elite and have proven that with the right drive, what others have developed over centuries can be achieved in a matter of decades,” says Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education rankings. “They are a truly exciting and dynamic group of institutions which should serve as a lesson to the rest of the world – that the traditional global world order is not unassailable and visionary young universities can break through.”
There are two other Swedish universities that were included in THE 100 under 50 list: The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) was ranked 34th and Linköping University was ranked 59th. Umeå University has a close collaboration with SLU, and has an alliance with Linköping University and UiT The Arctic University of Norway, which was ranked 73rd. A total of nine universities in the Nordic countries made the top 100 list.
Lena Gustafsson finds it rewarding to see that several of Umeå University’s partner universities around the world have also been ranked highly as this should aid in deepening the collaboration. “When Umeå now turns 50 and we no longer qualify for lists focusing on young universities, I hope to increase visibility on other international ranking lists and to maintain our dynamics as a young university,” Lena Gustafsson continues.
Umeå's partner universities that made the list include: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (5), City University of Hong Kong (14), University of Calgary, Canada (22), University of Wollongong, Australia (31), UiT The Arctic University of Norway (73) and La Trobe University, Australia (75).
Last year, Umeå University was listed at #39 by Times Higher Education 100 Under 50.
