Producing and reproducing university rankings

You have more geeks, I have more trees; you are richer, but I am younger. Very soon, all the universities around the world may find a place for themselves with the current proliferation of university rankings.

On 3 June, the Guardian announced that Cambridge and Oxford continue to lead in the University league table of the Guardian’s University guide 2014. One week later, Manchester Metropolitan University caught the spotlight as the greenest university leading the People & Planet Green League 2013, according to a report published exclusively by the same paper, the Guardian, on 10 June. On 19 June, Times Higher Education announced that South Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech) beats École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and retains its No. 1 position on the list of the world’s top 100 universities under 50 years old for the second consecutive year.

Before the birth of U-Multirank, which aims to serve as an all-embracing ranking for all, media-driven rankings have been quick in addressing their ‘shortcomings’ with the re(production) of more customised sub-rankings. By the time U-Multirank comes into existence, we will see that the world of rankings will be more diversified and not only driven by research-oriented assessments. Besides, U-Multirank appears to have an offspring before it itself is born. Spain’s Fundación Conocimiento y Desarrollo (CyD) has kicked off a new regional ranking initiative to compare institutions in Castilla y León with institutions in the rest of Spain and the world. The ranking will use the criteria of U-Multirank but adapted to the “reality” of Spain. Results of this ranking will be available next spring, which is also the time when U-Multirank expects to have its first results.

The Guardian - The Green League

The Guardian - University Guide 2014

Times Higher Education

Fundación Conocimiento y Desarrollo