Switzerland has more universities among the world's top 200 per capita than any other country
Some believe that ranking tables help assess the quality of an educational institution in the context of growing international competition and increasing diversity of universities. Others argue that in the pursuit of rankings, universities may focus solely on research activities at the expense of their educational and societal functions, since scientific achievements contribute to high scores. As Swissinfo.ch writes, critics of this system also note that rankings typically evaluate only the top 200 universities in the world, many of which are in Europe and North America.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) traditionally holds the highest place among Swiss universities in such rankings, followed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Nevertheless, there are other universities that are literally hot on the heels of these two leaders.
For example, the University of Geneva. It can now boast two Nobel Prize winners in physics, a fact that could significantly affect its ranking. Recall that in October 2019, its staff members Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of 51 Pegasi b, the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star (51 Pegasi).
According to the THE World University 2020, the global ranking of higher education institutions by Times Higher Education, Switzerland has more universities among the world's top 200 per capita than any other country.
Which rankings are most important for Switzerland?
The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation of Switzerland (SBFI) on its online platform universityranking.ch highlights four of them: QS (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings), Shanghai Ranking (Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University), THE (Times Higher Education World University Rankings), and CWTS Leiden Ranking (an annual global ranking of universities by Leiden University based solely on bibliometric indicators).
The website universityranking.ch was launched by SBFI in 2006 in response to the enormous interest generated by the release of the very first university ranking compiled in 2003 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (academic rankings are a relatively new phenomenon). As a representative of the agency told swissinfo.ch in an interview, the SBFI online platform does not commission the rankings themselves but compiles a summary of their results reflecting the position of Swiss higher education institutions in various ranking tables. According to him, it also "clarifies issues related to the methodologies used, and most importantly, warns readers against their misinterpretation."
The SBFI representative also added that the listed rankings were not used for the purpose of developing state policy in higher education and research, but they helped universities that received high ratings in establishing connections with politicians and prospective students.
What do Swiss universities say?
Swiss universities are aware of both sides of the coin. Take the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), which ranked 13th in the THE 2020 ranking, the highest among all universities outside the UK and the US.
"Although academic ranking tables are a valuable tool for comparing universities, they reflect only a one-sided view of a university," says ETH Zurich President Joël Mesot in a written comment. "ETH Zurich's strategy is based on the federal mandate we have received to conduct fundamental research, train specialists, and transfer knowledge to the Swiss economy and society. In these circumstances, the fact that our school continues to hold high positions in the rankings of the world's best universities is a great achievement," he notes.
The University of Geneva, which recently added Nobel laureates to its staff (144th place in the THE 2020 ranking), stated that it does not take special measures to improve its position in specific rankings or in terms of certain criteria. The university's efforts are focused on "improving the quality of teaching and research." At the same time, it is expected that the Nobel Prize awarded to two of its staff members "will raise the university's ranking, though it is impossible to say by how much," says university spokesperson Marco Gérard Cattaneo.
Overall, the top 200 universities in the THE ranking are considered to make up 1% of all higher education institutions in the world, so their influence on scientists and students cannot be ignored. "But any rankings do not reflect the full picture, so they should be approached with caution. In particular, one should not take sharp changes in a university's position too seriously, as they are often related to changes in methodology," he adds.
What do rankings evaluate?
The THE ranking is based on the evaluation of 13 performance indicators grouped into five areas: teaching quality/university reputation, research, citation frequency of scientific papers published by the university, its international engagement (number of foreign faculty and students and international projects), and the university's contribution to industry development/number of innovations.
The QS ranking takes into account five coefficients, the main one being the assessment of the university by experts from the academic community (40%). The focus of the ranking compiled by Shanghai University is the research activity of the university, including awards received and frequently cited publications, while the main criterion of the Leiden University ranking is the scientific achievements of the higher education institution, assessed based on bibliometric indicators.
This explains why ETH Zurich ranked sixth in the QS 2020 ranking and thirteenth in the THE 2020 list.
Which ranking is the best?
It is difficult to answer this question. Even Phil Baty, chief data officer of the Times Higher Education ranking, wrote on Twitter that “there is no single absolutely correct or accurate university ranking.” As he said at the THE conference in Zurich, their results can “vary significantly depending on the chosen parameters, indicators, and the assigned degree of their significance.”
“As ranking compilers, we must honestly say that no one will carve in stone the statement that ETH Zurich ranks 13th among the best universities in the world, and Oxford is university number one,” Baty said. As he explained, the assessment result is based on a specific set of indicators “agreed upon through consultations with experts from the academic community.”
For this reason, he advises interested parties to analyze ranking data based on their own needs: students may be particularly interested in what educational resources the university offers, while graduate students care about the citation frequency of the university’s research and its reputation.
The EPFL school (38th place in the THE 2020 ranking) perfectly describes this dilemma on its website: “None of these rankings is perfect, but they shed some light on the quality of the universities being assessed. The global analysis of all rankings creates a sufficiently reliable picture of the comparative influence, public perception, and performance of higher education institutions.”
Isobel LEYBOLD-JOHNSON.
Translated by Nina SHULYAKOVA.