Seven Universities in NZ make Expanded World Rankings

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 21.00 BST ON WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER 2015

SEVEN UNIVERSITIES IN NEW ZEALAND MAKE THE NEWLY EXPANDED WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS TOP 800

TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION PUBLISHES EXPANDED WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2015-16

London, 30th September 2015: The Times Higher Education has published the 12th edition of its World University Rankings. There are seven New Zealand institutions in the newly expanded World University Rankings top 800 ranking, with the University of Auckland its top performer in the top 200 (joint 172nd).

THE World University Rankings are partly based on publication and citation data from Elsevier’s Scopus, the world’s largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, and include analytics from SciVal, Elsevier’s tool to calculate comparative research metrics. The ranking features universities in 70 countries, with 29 new countries included this year. Countries entering this year include Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Latvia, Oman, Qatar and the Ukraine.

Phil Baty, the editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings said:

“It is good news for New Zealand to have once again made this prestigious list of the world’s top universities. It is now among one of 70 countries in the elite four per cent of universities in the world - something it can be very proud of achieving again this year.”

Elsewhere, Australia has 31 universities represented in the newly expanded World University Rankings top 800, with eight in the top 200 and a further 14 ranked between 201 and 400.

In Asia, the National University of Singapore holds Asia’s number one spot (in 26th place) while China’s two leading universities (Peking and Tsinghua) are firmly established in the world’s elite top 50 group at 42nd and joint 47th respectively. Japan has two institutions in the top 200, University of Tokyo (43rd) and Kyoto University (joint 88th), while South Korea has four institutions in the top 200: Seoul National University (85th), Pohang University of Science and Technology (116th), the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (148th) and Sungkyunkwan University (153rd). Hong Kong has three institutions in the top 200: the University of Hong Kong (joint 44th), the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (59th) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (joint 138th). India has 17 institutions in the top 800 list, with two in the top 400 list, which are the Indian Institute of Science in the 251-300 group and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (351-400).

Phil Baty continued:

“It is a mixed picture for Asia. China’s two leading universities, Peking and Tsinghua, are firmly established within the world’s elite top 50 group. Singapore is another strong performer - it now boasts Asia’s number one university, the National University of Singapore in 26th place, and its compatriot, Nanyang Technological University, sits in its highest ever place, 55th.

“But tough times for Japan and disappointment for South Korea mean that leading Asian nations’ grip on the higher ranks of the THE World University Rankings is loose. Many leading institutions, particularly in East Asia, have been focussing heavily on attaining world class status, backed with funding and powerful political will. But this rankings demonstrates how difficult a task this is, as universities right across the world continue to improve.”

THE World University Rankings feature universities in 70 countries, with 29 new countries included this year. Countries entering this year include Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Latvia, Oman, Qatar and the Ukraine. While the US remains the world leader when it comes to elite universities, its dominance has been eroded this year. It has six of the top ten universities – down from seven last year – and 39 of the top 100 – down from 45 last year.

Phil Baty continued:

“The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, now in their 12th year, apply rigorous standards, using tough global benchmarks across all of a global research university’s key missions – teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The results are trusted by students and their families and by academics, university leaders and governments. The top 800 list represents just 4 per cent of the world’s higher education institutions, so we congratulate all institutions who have made this year’s list.

“This year’s expanded list is testament to just how competitive global higher education has become – our top 800 universities come from 70 different countries, and the traditional dominance of the US is eroding. Make no mistake – many countries aspire to have world class universities competing with the very best in the world, and no one at the top can afford to rest on their laurels. You have to run very fast just to stand still and there are many rising stars from a wide range of nations seeking to gain the upper hand in the 21stcentury knowledge economy.”

THE TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2015-16 – FULL TOP 200
Copyright Times Higher Education 2015
If any of this table is reproduced, you must credit: Times Higher Education and link to the full results and analysis at www.thewur.com

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Methodology key facts

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16 draw upon:
800 universities ranked, up from 400 from last year, with 70 countries included (29 more than in 2014)
Thirteen performance indicators make these the ONLY world rankings to examine ALL the core missions of the modern global university – research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international activity
The world’s largest invitation-only academic reputation survey (including responses from more than 10,000 senior academics in 2014-15)
Research excellence assessed through the examination of more than 11 million research papers (up from six million last year) with 51 million citations (up from 50 million last year)
Arts, humanities and social sciences placed on an equal footing with science

The indicators are:

Industry income – innovation

1. Research income from industry/academic staff
Teaching – the learning environment
2. Reputation survey – teaching
3. Staff-to-student ratio
4. PhDs/undergraduate degrees awarded
5. PhDs awarded/academic staff
6. Institutional income/academic staff

Citations – research influence

7. Citation impact (normalised average citations per paper)
Research – volume, income and reputation
8. Reputation survey – research
9. Research income/academic staff
10. Scholarly papers/academic staff and research staff

International outlook – staff, students and research

11. International students/total students
12. International academic staff/total academic staff
13. Scholarly papers with one or more international co-authors/total scholarly papers

Terminology and intellectual property
The full title of the tables is “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16”
This edition of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings marks the first time that core institutional and reputational information has been gathered in-house by THE’s new dedicated team of data experts. This has allowed THE to publish data on more institutions than ever before. Bringing the data in-house means thatTHE can develop more sophisticated analyses: for example, tables that focus on particular regions with bespoke metrics
This is supplemented by extended research publication data drawn from Elsevier’s Scopus database, the world’s largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed academic literature
This updated approach enables THE to analyse a deeper range of research activity from a wider range of institutions than ever before, including those institutions from emerging economies that account for a growing proportion of the world’s research output
There are caveats. While the tried, trusted and comprehensive combination of 13 performance indicators remains in place, with some carefully calibrated weightings, naturally there is a degree of volatility compared with last year because of the improvements that have been made. This has led to significant changes in some institutions’ positions that cannot be attributed solely to performance. This is why last year’s results have not been shown alongside this year’s results, as direct comparisons cannot be made
Research publication data are supplied by Elsevier from its Scopus database. http://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus
Any publication of the “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16” tables (in full or part) should include full attribution to “Times Higher Educationwith data supplied by Elsevier”
YOU MUST include the following link when publishing the “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16” tables (in full or in part): http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/

About Times Higher Education magazine
Times Higher Education is the world’s most authoritative source of information about higher education. Designed specifically for professional people working in higher education and research, THE was founded in 1971 and has been online since 1995. It is published by TES Global.

About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions — among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey— and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 33,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries. www.elsevier.com

ENDS

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