The latest edition of THE’s World University Rankings includes 2,191 universities from 115 countries. For the third year in a row, MUNI secured a position in the 601–800 range. One of the university’s traditionally strong areas is the Research Environment category, where it ranked 430th worldwide this year. In two of the three indicators that make up this category, MUNI recorded year-on-year improvement. The first is research productivity, which measures the number of research publications per academic staff member. The second is research reputation, which is based on a survey of publishing academics. The third indicator, research income, showed a slight decrease compared to last year, yet it still represents the university’s second-strongest performance in the past four years.
MUNI also appeared in the top 500 in the International Outlook category, placing 487th. This category is based on three indicators: international staff, international students and international co-authorship. In the last of these, which measures the number of publications co-authored with researchers abroad, MUNI once again recorded year-on-year growth. Another success is the higher score achieved in the “patents” indicator. This measures how many patents cite the university’s published research results. The indicator was introduced to the ranking in 2023. Together with “industry income”, it forms the Industry category.
“I am pleased to see improvements in key parameters of our university in the ranking. Overall, though, I cannot say I am satisfied with our position. Even though our research performance shows positive trends in international cooperation, excellence and productivity, it is not enough, particularly in the context of a growing budget and the financial resources invested in our research facilities and infrastructure. As Masaryk University, we simply need to set our ambitions higher. And it should not be only Masaryk University – the entire Czech higher education system should be more ambitions. Currently, it has only three representatives in the first thousand places of this research-oriented ranking.” comments Rector Martin Bareš.
The University of Oxford took first place in the ranking for the tenth consecutive year. Among Czech institutions, Charles University is the highest ranked, maintaining its global position in the 401–500 range. Masaryk University and the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague share second place in the Czech Republic with a global ranking in the 601–800 band. No other Czech universities reached the top thousand. In total, 18 Czech higher education institutions appear in this year’s results.
“Alongside criticism, we also need to think about how to improve. The key role lies with the faculties and university institutes. We need personnel policies that support career development, but only when it is backed by genuinely high-quality publication work. We also need an open environment that attracts new research talent to strengthen existing teams or create new ones, as well as the courage to part ways with individuals or teams who simply are not delivering results. It is also important to keep improving support for securing international grants and to develop ambitious research strategies with clear goals that are actually met.
As rector, I have one key tool – the budget – although even this is limited by the approval procedures of academic bodies. In practice, this means setting funding criteria for university units that firmly require high-quality research results. It also means financing schemes that allow us to employ top researchers from abroad, such as the MUNI Award in Science and Humanities. And finally – or rather first of all – there is the role of the state and its willingness to diversify the Czech higher education system so that research excellence can be systematically and meaningfully supported where it truly develops. Only then can the Czech Republic become more visible in global competition,” adds Bareš.
The full ranking results are available here.