Palacký University Joins the Club of Elite Global Universities
Illustration: Imrich Veber
Palacký University has been listed for the first in its history in the prestigious international Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015–2016. UP has joined the ranks of the 800 most respected universities from 70 countries.
The list, published since 2010 by the UK journal The Times Higher Education (THE), is one of the two most renowned global rankings of universities and higher education institutes. “This is a phenomenal success for us. It also means that we will have more visibility, because millions of people, academics, and students from all over the world, study these rankings. We have joined an elite club. It is a great motivation for the future: we have to keep moving upwards,” said UP Rector Jaroslav Miller. He added that thanks to the ranking, Palacký University will gain a better international reputation in general, and not just in the academic community.
The THE World University Rankings judges universities in several areas, such as the quality of teaching, science and and research, citations, international outlook, and co-operation with the corporate sector (industry income/knowledge transfer). The core factors in the overall evaluation are related to scientific performance, including teaching, research, and citations (altogether 90 per cent). One of the indicators was the Reputation Survey, conducted among global academics, who rate a university’s reputation for research excellence and teaching quality.
The evaluation in the monitored areas was made on the basis of collected data, provided directly by the universities to the THE. The data concerned the number of domestic and international students, academic and scientific staff, international staff, the number of doctoral students, alumni, etc. The THE ranking also inquired into the finances allocated to science and research. “We had to send a significant amount of statistical data,” explained Rector Miller.
Along with Palacký University, eight other Czech universities joined the world’s top 800 institutions. The best score was achieved by the VŠB – Technical University Ostrava, ranked among the 301st to 350th positions. Palacký University placed among the 501st–600th positions. “It is a reward for thousands of our colleagues at Palacký University who have contributed to this achievement. These are, in the first place, our academics and scientists who constitute the university and give it its trademark. And last but not least, it also includes our staff, who are in charge of all the administrative work and processing of necessary data, which is a Sisyphean and invisible task. I want to express my gratitude to all of them,” concluded Rector Miller.
