This year’s edition of the ranking includes 1,504 universities, selected from 8,808 institutions assessed across 106 countries and territories. The QS World University Rankings assess universities based on nine indicators focusing on the quality of research and teaching, graduate employability, internationalisation and sustainability.
Masaryk University recorded its greatest year-on-year improvement in the global rankings in the ‘International Research Network’ indicator. This assessment takes into account both the number of academic publications produced through international collaboration and the diversity of countries with which the university cooperates. MU moved up 59 places to 296th place.
A significant achievement for MU is the strengthening of its academic reputation. In this indicator, MU ranked 358th, a year-on-year rise of 25 places. The ranking is based on an international survey of academics and researchers from around the world, who identify institutions with excellent research and teaching in their respective fields. The current results are based on 1.6 million nominations.
“The fact that Masaryk University ranks among the top five per cent of nearly nine thousand universities assessed worldwide shows that we have long been keeping pace with the global elite. I am particularly pleased with the year-on-year improvement in academic reputation, which I regard as one of the most demanding indicators. The fact that the global scientific community holds us in ever-greater esteem confirms the soundness of our strategy, which focuses on the quality of research outcomes and international collaboration. For our students, this is also a clear sign that they are studying at an institution that is respected internationally. A huge thank you therefore goes to all our colleagues, whose day-to-day work has contributed to this success,” said Rector Martin Bareš, commenting on the university’s ranking.
Masaryk University remains in the world’s top 300 in the Sustainability indicator, where it ranked 263rd, and in the International Students indicator, where it is in 257th place. The first of these indicators reflects the university’s position in the separate QS Sustainability Rankings, published in November last year, which assesses universities’ contributions to addressing the challenges of sustainable development. The second indicator tracks the proportion of international students at the university.
Among Czech universities, Masaryk University came third, behind Charles University (ranked 273rd globally) and the Czech Technical University in Prague (ranked 432nd). The Brno University of Technology took fourth place (588th), whilst fifth place went to the University of Chemistry and Technology (652nd). A total of 16 Czech higher education institutions featured in the ranking.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA retained the top spot in the global ranking. Imperial College London and Stanford University tied for second place. The University of Oxford came fourth.