In the most recent QS World University Rankings, the University of Turku was ranked among the top 21 per cent of the universities featured in the ranking. The University of Turku was placed 291st, an improvement of four places compared to the previous year.
This year, the annual QS ranking examined data from more than 2,400 universities and higher education institutions, out of which 1,422 were ranked. The ranking also covered 100 locations and registered 124 new entrants, allowing it to grow and remain one of the most popular, influential, and largest rankings available. The ranking featured nine Finnish universities with the University of Turku ranked 3rd nationally.
Similar to prior years, the QS World University Rankings uses six weighted indicators to effectively capture university performance: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio. Two new performance criteria (currently unweighted), employment outcomes and international research network, were added to this year's ranking, demonstrating that QS actively monitors and adapts to changing market trends.
A closer examination of the data reveals that the international research network was the strongest indicator for the University of Turku, ranking 192nd worldwide and reflecting the University's ability to form long-term research collaborations with other universities. Overall, the University of Turku also received high scores in academic reputation (ranked 297th) and employer reputation (ranked 305th).
Faculty student ratio (ranked 259th) and citations per faculty (ranked 382nd) both experienced a small decline from the previous year but remained highly rated nevertheless.
- Science is always international and our university community has strong international networks so our strong ranking there is not actually surprising. However, citations per faculty is a measure which we should raise to a higher level. It measures the scientific impact of our university and is thereby a very important success factor of ours, states Vice Rector Mika Hannula.
Furthermore, with a leap of over 200 positions the University of Turku was particularly successful in the international faculty ratio (ranked 505th), significantly improving its international attractiveness and percentage of international faculty members. Employment outcomes was ranked 447th and international student ratio was placed 601+ in the overall rankings.
