University of Groningen climbs THE world ranking list

The University of Groningen holds 134th place in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking this year – 36 places higher than last year, when THE radically changed its methodology.

This year, Times Higher Education has further adapted its method. THE claims that this new, improved assessment method makes its ranking list the only one that ranks universities on all core tasks, including research, teaching, knowledge transfer and attention to internationalization. In addition, the reputation a university has in the academic world also plays a big role in the THE ranking.

President of the Board of the University of Groningen Sibrand Poppema: ‘Our University has climbed to place 103 – almost in the Top 100 – in the Shanghai ranking, which is entirely based on academic achievement. THE, however, attaches great value to the reputation of a university among academics around the globe. Your reputation depends on all kinds of factors that universities cannot always influence, such as the reputation of the city. Groningen apparently holds 134th place in this respect.’

Poppema emphasizes the excellent reputation that the University of Groningen currently enjoys among its students, as demonstrated in a survey published by the weekly magazine Elsevier last week, in which Groningen, together with Radboud University Nijmegen, was judged the best university in the country by students. He is also very happy that the University of Groningen climbed in all ranking lists again this year.

The Netherlands has twelve universities in THE’s Top 200, which brings the country back to the situation before THE radically changed its methodology. According to THE, the improved assessment method ensures that the quality of Dutch universities is better reflected. Editor-in-chief Phil Baty adds: 'There’s little doubt that a concerted drive to selectively invest in higher education and to internationalise the system is paying off’. Baty describes the Netherlands as a ‘major global higher education powerhouse’.