New international university ranking: Commission welcomes launch of U-Multirank

EU News 218/2014

Brussels, 13 May 2014
IP/14/548

A new global university ranking, set up with €2 million in funding from the European Union, is launched today. U-Multirank, which assesses the performance of more than 850 higher education institutions worldwide, breaks new ground by producing multi-dimensional listings rating universities on a much wider range of factors than existing international rankings. The idea is to avoid simplistic league tables which can result in misleading comparisons between institutions of very different types or mask significant differences in quality between courses at the same university. Individual users will be able to build a personalised ranking based on their particular needs. This will allow them to obtain information on the universities or specific disciplines which most interest them and to choose criteria according to their own preferences.

While traditional international rankings tend to focus on research excellence and neglect other factors, U-Multirank will base its assessments on five key areas:

Research performance

Quality of teaching and learning

International orientation

Success in knowledge transfer (partnerships with business and start-ups)

Regional involvement.

The new ranking also takes account of feedback from 60 000 students at the participating universities.

Source and additional information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-548_en.htm?locale=en

Androulla Vassiliou Date: 13/05/2014 Reference: P-025607/00-01 Location: Brussels - EC/Berlaymont (C)EU, 2014 URL

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