The Times Higher Education World University Rankings: Comenius University is once again among the best universities in the world

Bratislava, 22 September 2016: Comenius University has once again confirmed its place among the best universities in the world. The highly respected Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016–2017 has placed Comenius University 601st–800th.


23. 09. 2016 08.04 hod.
By: CU Public Relations Office

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is one of the five most respected university evaluation systems in the world.

The Times newspaper evaluates universities worldwide according to qualitative and quantitative indicators. This year’s rankings presented an evaluation of the top 980 universities in the world.

Comenius University was placed in the 601–800 ranking band. The Slovak University of Technology was also included in this year’s ranking, taking a place in the 801–980 ranking band. The University of Oxford took the top position, followed by the California Institute of Technology, and Stanford University.

The evaluation criteria include:
Citations (research impact: an index weighting of 30%): the citation impact as indexed according to the Elsevier Scopus database for 2010 to 2015
Teaching (the impact of the teaching environment: an index weighting of 30%): the number of students per teacher, a teaching reputation survey, the number of Ph.D. graduates per teacher, the ratio of Ph.D. graduates and bachelor’s graduates, and the teaching budget
Research (scope, budget, and reputation: an index weighting of 30%): research productivity – the number of scientific publications by academic and research staff in peer-reviewed journals included in the Elsevier Scopus database, the normalized research budget, and a research reputation survey
International reputation (teachers, students, and research: an index rating of 7.5%): the ratio of international students and domestic students, the ratio of international and domestic teaching staff, and the number of scientific publications featuring international co-authorship
Industry income (the financial presence of industrial actors in research, innovation, and knowledge transfer: an index weighting of 2.5 %.): the financial income from industrial actors for research and innovation


“We are seeking further talent to join our top-level scientists and research teams, and to create for them the best conditions possible. We also hope to increase our scientific performance and the number of publications in top academic journals as well as their citation impact. Within the necessary criteria, we would like to get closer to the very best international standards,” said Comenius University Rector, Professor Karol Mičieta, who added that the scientific and research potential of Comenius University was proven by the fact that it is regularly included in rankings of the best universities in the world despite its considerably lower level of funding.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (the full list)