higher education US UK

Best universities in the world technology and science-focused


Science and technology innovation drives leadership of MIT, Cambridge and Imperial in QS World University Rankings 2014/15

world-rankings-QSThe global emphasis on high-impact scientific and technological research is the key driver of leadership, say researchers in compiling the data for the QS World University Rankings, which are—for the third year—led by MIT.

The QS World University Rankings, an annual league table of big-name universities, are compiled by the QS Intelligence Unit in consultation with an international advisory board of academics (such as Ben Sowter, co-author of the UNESCO publication, “Rankings and Accountability in Higher Education: Uses and Misuses”; Hilol Nag, global higher education advisor with a focus on the Middle East and Africa; Christina Zhang, consultant on UK national policies on business and economic affairs for the House of Commons and advisor on Chinese higher education systems; and many others). [More information on the Rankings’ methodology can be found here.]

The purpose of the rankings, said QS in a statement, has been to recognize universities as the “multi-faceted organizations they are and to provide a global comparison of their success against the notional mission of remaining or becoming world-class.” Now in their 10th year, the QS World University Rankings 2014/2015 rank the world’s “top” 863 universities (out of over 3,000 considered) adding more than 100 new universities into the current list of the world’s “best institutions.”

The Rankings are based on four pillars: research, teaching, employability and internationalization; and the methodology consists of six indicators: academic reputation (40 percent), employer reputation (10 percent), faculty student ratio (20 percent), citations per faculty (20 percent), international students (5 percent) and international faculty (5 percent).

This year, 63,676 academic and 28,759 employer responses contributed towards the results, making both surveys the largest of their kind in the world, explained QS.

This year, the world’s best universities, as ranked by QS, all have an innovation focus concerning technology and science.

“In the wake of the recession, both governments and private sector funding sources are placing greater emphasis on high-impact STEM research, much of which takes place in specialist institutions,” says QS head of research Ben Sowter. “Tech-focused institutions are increasingly the focal point of a global race for innovation. With budgets from public sources increasingly coming under strain, institutions seem more focused than ever on potentially lucrative research in science, technology and medicine.”

(Next page: Universities’ world rankings)

MIT, according to QS, increased year-on-year citations per faculty by 14 percent. Imperial College also reported a 14 percent increase in this metric compared to 11 percent by Cambridge and 2 percent by Harvard. The average increase in this dimension among the top 10 was 7 percent. The Rankings show that Caltech remains the world’s top university for research citations.

Video describing the Rankings:

[field name=iframe2]

 

“All the top ten institutions achieve excellence in academic reputation, employer reputation, student faculty ratio or measures of international faculty and students,” QS said in a statement. “The performance of Imperial College in citations per faculty has helped it become the biggest climber in the top 10, leapfrogging Harvard, UCL and Oxford to rank second equal in the world, tied with University of Cambridge.”

Also notable is that London is the only city in the world with 5 universities in the Top 100, more than Boston and Hong Kong (3), New York, Paris, Tokyo, Melbourne and Beijing (2).

“These rankings consolidate London’s position as the education capital of the world,” said Boris Johnson, mayor of London. “Nowhere else will you find such a critical mass of top universities within just a few miles of each other, all providing an excellent education and producing graduates who go on to be leaders in their fields. From accountants to zoologists, I’m proud to say that London universities are at the forefront of teaching and research.”

A brief overview of the rankings:

Global Top Ten

2014 2013 Institution Country
1 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) US
2 3 University of Cambridge UK
2 5 Imperial College London UK
4 2 Harvard University US
5 6 University of Oxford UK
5 4 UCL (University College London) UK
7 7 Stanford University US
8 10 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) US
9 10 Princeton University US
10 8 Yale University US

 

A total of 31 countries are represented in the top 200; and according to QS, the U.S. is the dominant nation, with 51 institutions, ahead of the UK (29), Germany (13), the Netherlands (11), Canada (10), Japan (10) and Australia (8).

The top ten fastest risers since 2009 are: MIT, Sungkyunkwan University (Korea), EPFL (Switzerland), Stanford, LMU München, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Korea University, Zhejiang University (China), Queen Mary, University of London and ETH Zurich.

Eight of these institutions feature key strengths in science and technology.

The full results of the QS World University Rankings 2014/2015 are available here.

Material from a press release was used in this report.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.