Institute of Dentistry Ranked 18th Best in the World
The Institute of Dentistry at the University of Turku has been ranked the 18th best in the world in the latest subject-specific Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Only three other European universities made the top 20 in Dentistry & Oral Sciences, all the other places went to universities from the United States.
The Head of the Institute of Dentistry, Professor Pekka Vallittu, believes that the sharp rise in the ARWU subject ranking is based on the strong emphasis on scientific research and its high visibility as well as on the strong, international research history.
– For years, dentistry at the University of Turku has been ranked somewhere around the top 100 and I have wondered why we haven't seen a rise in the rankings despite our hard work, conference attendances and visibility. Now, all that work has paid of with the top 20 ARWU ranking, says Professor Vallittu.
According to him, scientists are critical of academic rankings but they are still followed with great interest. Vallittu predicts that the top ranking will increase people's interest towards the Institute.
– I believe that, in the future, we will receive more applications for post-graduate training, especially from countries that already have high-quality training in dentistry. We will also have more visibility in the international research field.
16 Subjects from the University of Turku in the ARWU Subject Ranking
In addition to dentistry, top rankings were achieved by nursing science in the 51–75 category, ecology in the 101–150 category, and biology, medical technology, biomedical engineering and finance in the 151–200 category.
– Dentistry and nursing science have had great track records in different rankings. The University's placement in so many of the subject-specific ARWU rankings shows that our multidisciplinarity has a solid foundation, says Vice Rector Kalle-Antti Suominen who is responsible for research.
The Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects compared the research productivity of over 1,400 universities in 52 disciplines in natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medicine and social sciences. Some of the subject rankings listed the best 500 universities and some a smaller amount.
There are several university rankings that primarily rank scientific success and productivity, and ARWU is one of the best known and used rankings globally.
The subject rankings compared the number of research articles, number of citations, number of articles published in the top journals, and how many lead authors of scientific articles written in international collaboration worked in the university in question. The ranking also takes into consideration the the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities will be published on 15 August.
Subjects of the University of Turku in the ARWU subject ranking:
18 Dentistry
51–75 Nursing
101–150 Ecology
151–200 Biological Sciences
151–200 Medical Tehnology
151–200 Biomedical Engineering
151–200 Finance
201–300 Agricultural Sciences
201–300 Food Science and Engineering
201–300 Public Health
201–300 Education
201–300 Clinical Medicine
201–300 Psychology
201–300 Human Biological Sciences
401–500 Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
401–500 Physics
401–500 Materials Science and Engineering
>> Global Ranking of Academic Subjects
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Photo: Hanna Oksanen