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UT achieves sensationally higher score in Times Higher Education ranking

This year the UT achieved the 149th position of all knowledge institutes assessed in the Times Higher Education ranking (THE). A very substantial rise of 61 places when compared to last year (210). With this score the UT also rises in the list of Dutch universities, to a second place of three technical universities.

The THE ranking is considered one of the three most influential and prominent university rankings, next to the QS World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai ranking).  The UT achieves higher scores in all THE categories (education, research, internationalization and valorization). The citation impact has especially increased. Citation impact, the standardized amount of citations of UT publications per discipline, is one of the most important components of the THE ranking. The UT's score on citation impact has risen from 49 (in 2014) to 69 in 2015 (on a scale from 0 to 100).

In the past couple of years, in addition to a higher citation impact, the UT also shows a rising trend in the amount of revenue from the corporate sector per member of staff and the amount of publications and doctoral degrees per member of staff. International prestige has visibly risen as well in this ranking. This concerns the percentage of international students and members of staff and the percentage of international co-publications.

"In the past years the UT devoted a lot of attention to the systematic publication of research results in internationally renowned academic journals, including disciplines in which this was not the usual practice. This policy is clearly paying off and it shows great appreciation of our scientists' achievements. In addition, a revision of the methodology at THE ensures that the differences in disciplines are more carefully considered, which results in both the natural, technical and social sciences at the UT being more accurately represented. This development also closely matches our new strategy to, in addition to disciplinary excellence in our education research, create added value through multidisciplinary combinations. This will still have to be internationally acknowledged and accredited," according to Ed Brinksma, rector magnificus.

UT-chairman Victor van der Chijs about the outcome on this ranking: "Our increased focus on entrepreneurship and internationalization is shown very clearly in these results. It confirms our reputation as an entrepreneurial university. In addition, it shows that we are on the right track with our strategy, in which we continue to focus on strengthening collaboration with the corporate sector and increasing our international reputation and visibility..”

Background information of Times Higher Education World University Ranking

The THE results are based on five indicators: Industry, Internationalization, Citations, Research and Education.

  • Industry is based on the revenue from the corporate sector per member of staff and counts for 2.5% in the final score. The UT achieved a higher score than last year in this indicator; on a scale of 0 to a 100 they scored 89 in 2014 to 91 in 2015.
  • Internationalization consists of the amount of international staff members and students, plus international co-publications and counts for 7.5% in the final score. The score on co-publications rose from 58 to 77 points, the score for international staff members and students rose from 70 to over 74, and from 74 to 89 points, respectively. The UT wants to continue this rising trend in the years to come. As previously said, internationalization has been included in the university's new strategy as one of the most important mainstays.
  • Research is a very important indicator in this ranking and counts for 30% in the final score. Variations in the results within this indicator therefore greatly influence the university's position in the ranking. The research indicator consists of research reputation, research revenue per member of staff, citation impact and articles per members of staff. In the years to come, on the basis of the new strategy, the UT will work on building the international profile of academic research, and attracting top talent. Recently Dave Blank has been appointed Scientific Chief Ambassador of Twenteto develop this ambition. He focuses on strengthening the academic reputation and scientific vision of the University of Twente, both nationally and internationally.
  • The Education indicator also counts for 30% in the final score. For this indicator the education reputation, the relation of staff to students, the doctorate-to-bachelor's ratio, the amount of doctoral degrees per staff member and university revenue per staff member are reviewed. For example, the amount of doctoral degrees per staff member increased from 61 to over 65 points.
drs. B.G. Lankhaar (Bertyl)
Spokesperson EB (Currently acting director Kennispark Twente)