Also known as the Shanghai Ranking, the ARWU has been published annually since 2003. It is among the most relevant global rankings of universities, alongside THE and QS. It is focused on the evaluation of the performance of the universities listed solely in the area of research and development. More than 2,500 institutions were evaluated by the most recent edition, and the top 1,000 are listed.
Masaryk University has been in the ARWU ranking since 2017, and it celebrated its first TOP 500 ranking in 2022 and has maintained it since. This year, it is ranked 401st–500th. Masaryk University and Charles University are the only Czech universities that have made the TOP 500.
ARWU methodology uses six evaluation indicators. They include the number of papers published in Nature and Science; number of papers indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Science Citation Index; as well as highly cited researchers according to Clarivate and the number of Nobel laureates and Fields medallists on staff. The sum of the results of individual indicators adjusted for the number of academic staff represents the overall indicator.
“In addition to the yet another successful ranking among top 500 universities itself, I am excited about the fact that Masaryk University has managed to improve its year-on-year results in three of the relevant indicators – namely the two indicators related to research output in the form of papers in Nature and Science and number of papers indexed at the Web of Science, as well as the per capita academic performance. Scientific performance and the quality of science have been improving with respect to the global competition, which is excellent news for a university like ours which focuses on excellence in science,” says Rector of Masaryk University Martin Bareš.
Harvard University has dominated the ARWU for twenty years. The University of Cambridge is the best-performing British university in fourth place. Masaryk University is the second-best Czech university behind Charles University (succeeding in the shared 301st-400th place). In total, six Czech universities can be found in this year’s ARWU ranking.