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International university rankings
evaluate the amount and impact of research conducted at institutions of
higher education, the quality of teaching, the reputation of the
institutions in question among researchers and employers as well as the
extent of their international outlook. 


The oldest and most well-known is the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities, published annually since 2003. Other famous rankings include the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, the QS World University Ranking and the National Taiwan University Ranking. All in all, there are a dozen or so such rankings using different source material and methodologies.


In a university ranking the evaluation is often condensed to one or a
few scores. When evaluating research, the rankings typically measure
only the number and citations of English-language publications, making
it difficult for universities from non-English-speaking countries to
reach the top positions. Despite their shortcomings, rankings have a
significant impact on the international reputation and public image of
universities. The University of Helsinki also monitors its performance
in different rankings and seeks to improve it.


Only a few Nordic universities have reached the top 100. In nearly
all of the most important rankings, the University of Helsinki places in
the 50-100 range, elevating it to the top 0.5% of the world's
universities.


The Shang­hai rank­ing (ARWU)

Published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Academic Ranking of World Universities
is based on indicators measuring the universities' research and
historical reputations. The indicators and their impact on the score are
as follows:

-  An alumnus or alumna of the university is a Nobel or Fields laureate, 10%

– A researcher has received a Nobel prize or a Fields Medal while working at the university, 20%

– Citation indices of articles, 20%

– Articles in the journals Nature or Science, 20%

– Highly cited (top 1%) scientists, 20%

– Ratio of the above achievements to number of academic staff, 10%


The University of Helsinki has had the most success in the citation
indices and the least in indicators related to the Nobel Prize and
Fields Medal. This ranking is fairly stable, and the positions of
universities tend not to change rapidly. Area- and field-specific
versions also exist.


The Times Higher Edu­ca­tion (THE) Rank­ing

In its current iteration, the Times Higher Education ranking has been published since 2010. The ranking factors and their impact on the score are as follows:


Teaching, 30%

– Reputation (the external reputation of the university’s teaching)

– Ratio of academic staff to teachers

– Ratio of doctoral degrees to lower-level degrees

– Ratio of doctoral degrees to academic staff

– Ratio of income to academic staff


Research, 30%

– Reputation (the external reputation of the university’s research)

– Ratio of publications to academic staff

– Ratio of research funding to academic staff


Citations, 30%
Industry connections, 2.5%
International outlook, 7.5%


Of the above indicators, the University of Helsinki has received its
highest evaluations for citations and lowest for industry connections.
The THE ranking has been fairly stable. In 2015, the ranking switched
from using the Web of Science publication database to the Scopus database, which was reflected in the results.


The QS rank­ing

Previously published through Times Higher Education, the QS ranking
is now independent and carries the name of its founding organisation, Quacquarelli Symonds. The indicators used in the QS ranking and their impact on the score are as follows:

- The university’s reputation among other universities, 40%

– The university’s reputation among employers, 10%

– Ratio of citations to academic staff, 20%

– Ratio of teachers to students, 20%

– International outlook (international students and staff), 10%


The University of Helsinki has received its highest evaluations for
the ratio of teachers to students and lowest for the number of
international students. The new calculation method for the citation
index, adopted in 2015, was unfavourable with respect to the University
of Helsinki's strengths and caused the University's evaluation to dip.
The QS ranking displays more annual fluctuation than the other rankings,
since it places the main emphasis on subjective reputation surveys. The
group of respondents in the reputation survey changes every year.


The Taiwan rank­ing

The Taiwan ranking is
based exclusively on research and is less known than the previously
discussed rankings. Its strength lies in its diversity of indicators,
and it is thus supremely suited to evaluating research-focused
universities. The indicators and their impact on the score are as
follows:

- Number of articles during the past 11 years, 10%

– Number of articles during the past year, 15%

– Number of citations during the past 11 years, 15%

– Number of citations during the past two years, 10%

– Average number of citations for the past 11-year period, 10%

– The h index during the past year, 10%

– Number of highly-cited articles during the past 11 years, 15%

– Number of articles in high-impact publications during the past year, 15%


The University of Helsinki has received its best evaluation for the number of citations during the past 11 years and the h index.
The weakest indicator for the University was the average number of
citations for the past 11-year period. Due to its varied and partially
long-term indicators, the evaluation of a single university in the
Taiwan ranking tends to be stable.


The Uni­versity of Hel­sinki’s per­form­ance in the most im­port­ant rank­ings

The table below lists the University of Helsinki’s positions in the
most important rankings. The table will be updated as new results are
published. The Shanghai ranking is published in August and is followed
by QS, THE and Taiwan later in the autumn.


 
Shanghai
QS
Times (THE)
Taiwan

2003
74


      

2004
72
129


    

2005
76
62


    

2006
74
116


    

2007
73
100


  
52

2008
68
91


  
50

2009
72
108


  
48

2010
72
75
102
47

2011
74
89
91
66

2012
73
78
109
56

2013
76
69
100
64

2014
73
67
103
68

2015
67
96
76
69

2016
56











 
Head of International Affairs Markus Laitinen and Senior
Planning Officer Markku Javanainen (email: first last helsinki  fi)
liaise with the organisations that produce these rankings.