The Center for the World University Rankings (CWUR), a Saudi firm that measures universities’ quality of research, faculty, influence, enterprise and successful alumni, has ranked UCSD the 20th best university in the world.
The third annual global ranking also listed UCSD as the 15th best university in the United States and the nation’s third best public university. In the category of “influence,” which measures the number of research papers appearing in influential journals, UCSD was named the fifth best university in the world.
“UC San Diego’s faculty, staff, students and alumni have been influencing and contributing to our community and world through our research and education since our founding,” said UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. “We are proud to be recognized as one of the world’s top public universities, and we will continue to advance the frontiers of knowledge and transform lives.”
The methodology for the rankings, which included 2,000 universities, is based on eight indicators. According to CWUR, the rankings are distinctive because they do not rely on opinion-based surveys but rather take a transparent and quantitative approach through measuring the following:
Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals;
Quality of faculty members, measured by the number of academics who have won major international awards, prizes and medals;
Publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in reputable international journals;
Citations, measured by the number of highly cited research papers;
Patents, measured by the number of international patent filings;
Alumni employment, measured by the number of a university’s alumni who currently hold CEO positions at the world’s top 2,000 public companies relative to the university’s size;
Quality of education, measured by the number of a university’s alumni who have won major international awards, prizes and medals relative to the university’s size; and
Broad impact, measured by both the productivity and the impact of published work.
Universities were ranked in each of these categories, and their combined totals equate to the individual college’s overall global ranking. UCSD earned its highest mark in the categories of influence (fifth), and its placed 32nd in quality of education. The complete list of the world’s top 100 universities and its methodology can be found at www.cwur.org.