The former THE-QS World University Ranking (the Times Higher Education (THE) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Ranking) has split into two separate listings. The first of the new rankings, the QS World University Ranking 2010, is now available. In the race among the giants for the top places, most of the old favourites managed to maintain their positions in this year’s QS Rankings. Of the three main favourites, Cambridge and Harvard (no. 1 in 2009) have simply swapped places. There was a minor surprise with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) climbing from 9^th to 5^th place. In 18^th place, ETH Zurich improved on its 2009 rank by two places. It is also the first non-English or American university on the list and continues to be the best university in continental Europe. In 23^rd place, the University of Hong Kong was the top university from Asia. EPF Lausanne leapt from 42^nd to 32^nd to become the second best continental European university, making the two ETH institutions the leading European universities outside the UK.

New wine in old bottles

The first separate QS Rankings were eagerly anticipated. In the lead-up, the question on everybody’s lips was how the results of the 2010 QS Rankings would compare to those of last year’s THE-QS Rankings. Now we can safely say that since the split with Times Higher Education little has changed in the QS rankings in terms of the methodology. The QS rankings include 200 universities worldwide and, as before, compare them based on six indicators. The indicator “reputation in the scientific community” is weighted heavily with 40 percent; the “teacher/student ratio” (20 percent) and the “average citation rate per research associate” (also 20 percent) also feature strongly. The QS rankings continue to determine the citation rate for publications using Elsevier’s Scopus citation database. The Times Higher Education (THE) rankings, however, the results of which are due to be released on 16 September, will be working with the Thomson Reuters citation database.

Controversial and under reconstruction

The number of university rankings has ballooned in recent years. However, they have also become increasingly controversial. That’s why the THE and QS rankings ultimately parted company. From 2004 to 2009 the THE-QS Rankings had selected the best universities in the world full of self-confidence. However, the rankings soon came up against stiff criticism, the European universities in particular taking issue with their strong anglophile orientation. In response to the German news magazine Spiegel, the new associate editor of the British university magazine “Times Higher Education”, Phil Baty, eventually admitted that the rankings were flawed, the basis of the peer review for the scientific reputation supposedly being too small.

“Now we’re looking forward to the publication of the new THE Rankings in mid-September”, says Urs Hugentobler, who is responsible for “institutional research” in ETH Zurich’s controlling department. “Only then we will be able to compare the quality of the two rankings properly.” He and his team study the rankings regularly and publish an overview of the most important ones on the department’s own website. Presently, little is known about the new methodology of the THE Rankings. However, they are expected to be weighted more in favour of quantitative data than peer review. He is also monitoring the development of the global rankings the EU has commissioned with great interest. U-Multirank, a multi-dimensional global university ranking, is set to make its debut in 2011 and evaluate the top universities in the world from a European perspective. ETH Zurich will be joining its IDEA League partners and about 150 other institutions in the pilot phase.