The IREG Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence, a body dedicated to the improvement of international and national rankings, held its first General Assembly in Warsaw in early March. The Observatory, which is based in Warsaw, grew out of the International Ranking Expert Group (IREG), which is composed of the main international and national ‘rankers’. IREG attracted attention by the adoption of the ‘Berlin Principles’ for good-quality rankings at a high-level international conference held in Berlin in 2006, and a series of top level international events. 

At its Warsaw gathering, the organisation adopted a set of criteria for the quality assessment of university rankings and decided to provide an audit service for rankers around the world. It also elected the members of its first Board (Executive Committee). Jan Sadlak, the former Director of UNESCO/CEPES in Bucharest, became the Observatory’s first President. Nian Cai Liu, the mastermind of the Shanghai Jia Tong University’s global ranking, as well as Gero Federkeil of CHE in Germany became Vice-Presidents. So did Waldemar Siwinski, of ACA’s Polish member, the Perspektywy Foundation. We congratulate.

IREG