Press release: Times Higher Education: Global ranking places Göttingen University top in Germany

Nr. 181/2010 - 17.09.2010

Georg-August-Universität ranked 43rd among the world´s leading 200 universities

In the 2010/11 worldwide ranking of universities presented by the prominent British magazine Times Higher Education (THE), the University of Göttingen occupies 43rd place, making it Germany’s highest ranked university. “We are pleased to note this considerably improved position in the latest ranking. The Presidential Board is encouraged to continue with the consistent implementation of our institutional strategy, as mapped out in the framework of the Excellence Initiative”, says Markus Hoppe, Vice President of the University of Göttingen. The ranking list was prepared employing a new methodological basis, which according to THE gives less weight to the reputation and heritage of institutions of higher education. Instead, the core missions of a university – research, teaching, and knowledge transfer – are taken more strongly into account. “So it is particularly impressive that Gottingen has demonstrated its excellence – and has earned its position as the number one institution in Germany – against new, more rigorous and comprehensive criteria”, states Phil Baty, the deputy editor of Times Higher Education who is responsible for the ranking.

The overall result of the individual universities in the new THE ranking is compiled from performance indicators in 13 different categories. These are assigned to five broad sections dealing with teaching, citation impact, research, international mix and industry income. According to THE, this ranking is the first worldwide to include a section dedicated to teaching and the learning environment. For the first time the data was supplied by the media group Thomson Reuters.

From Thursday, 16 September 2010 the complete ranking is available to be viewed online at htttp://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings.