The High Quality of the Research and Internationality of the University of Turku Evident in the New University Ranking
The University of Turku was given an excellent rating in the research publications and international orientation measures of U-Multirank, which is a new European university ranking published for the first time.
U-Multirank is a new international ranking of institutions of higher education that is funded by the European Union. The university rankings traditionally concentrate on top research, but the goal of U-Multirank is to describe the performance of students and the universities with several different measures.
The ranking is based on five main measures: Research, Teaching & Learning, International Orientation, Knowledge Transfer (for example, cooperation with companies), and Regional Engagement.
The general result of the University of Turku was quite good and in many areas the university reached the best classification, “very good“.
International Research University
The university reached the best classification in the number of research publications and international joint publications as well as in post-doc positions and international academic staff, for example. Also the student-staff ratio and student mobility were top class. According to the ranking, a point of development for the university is the commercialisation of research.
– The University of Turku is an international research university. It is very gratifying that the new ranking reflects this. We have also been aware of the weak points revealed by the ranking, says Rector Kalervo Väänänen.
Certain fields were assessed separately in the ranking. From the University of Turku, the fields were Physics and Economics, both of which reached a good level internationally.
The premise for the U-Multirank was EU’s need to improve the quality and diversity of the higher education systems and bring forward positive things about European universities. The ranking covered 850 universities, most of them in Europe.
The ranking is compiled by an independent consortium headed by the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) in Germany and the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) in the Netherlands.
The goal of the ranking is to help students in choosing a university that is the most suitable for them. On the U-Multirank website, the users can compare universities and find information about their strengths.
Text: Tuomas Koivula
Translation: Mari Ratia