The 100 Under 50 universities are agile, dynamic and free from the burden of history, writes Phil Baty.
An illustrious past can confer great contemporary advantages on traditional universities and signal a great future: such august institutions have had many centuries to accumulate wealth and property; they are often the custodians of national treasures and sit at the social and cultural heart of great cities; they have had time to build deep networks of loyal alumni ambassadors, sustained over the generations; and they enjoy rich traditions of teaching and scholarship – with enduring reputations to match. More...

Five french universities in the Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 Rankings 2015.

Paris-Sud University
One of the largest universities in France, housing over 27,000 students, Paris XI is known predominantly for its scientific exploits. It boasts two Nobel Prize winners, both in Physics, and has world-renowned laboratories for particle, nuclear and molecular physics, among other disciplines. It has also prospered in mathematics with numerous French Fields Medal winners hailing from the university.

Pierre and Marie Curie University
France's largest medical and scientific complex was set up in 1971 following the break-up of the old University of Paris, although it can trace its roots back to 1109 and the Abbey of St Victor. With 120 research units on 33 sites, it has a 30,000-strong student body, including 3,500 doctoral students, which is served by around 3,250 academics.

Paris Diderot University - Paris 7
Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 is a multidisciplinary institution in the French capital. It has about 26,000 students, 6,000 of them international, around 2,000 researchers and some 1,400 teaching and research staff.

Montpellier University
Data refer to Montpellier 2 University, which merged with Montpellier 1 University to become Montpellier University in January 2015. The university has more than 15,000 students and around 1,450 members of staff. It is a multidisciplinary university with eight faculties and a particular focus on sciences and technological research. In 2010 it commanded a budget of 201.1 million.

Claude Bernard University Lyon 1
Formed in the early 1970s, the institution, which accommodates around 35,000 students, has established itself as one of France's largest universities. Some 80 per cent of its students study vocationally (in the fields of science, technology, health sciences and teacher training), enabling them to find appropriate work post-graduation. With 5,000 staff on 13 sites, it is also one of the biggest employers in the Rhône-Alpes region.

The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 Rankings 2015 is a ranking of the top 100 universities under 50 years old. It provides a glimpse into the future, showcasing not those institutions with centuries of history, but the rising stars which show great potential. The table employs the same 13 separate indicators as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, but the 100 Under 50 Rankings 2015 methodology has been carefully re-calibrated to reflect the special characteristics of younger universities, giving less weight to subjective indicators of academic reputation.

By Andrew Trounson. A proposal to measure research engagement by ranking universities on income from end users risks being meaningless unless backed up by peer review assessment, the Innovative Research Universities network has warned. 
At the centre of what is potentially a high-stakes fight over how to motivate universities to better engage with end users such as industry is the question of whether using a simple metric can truthfully capture the impact of research. Some claim this can only be assessed by comparing case studies. More...

By Brianna Lee. College and university rankings have long driven battles for prestige among higher education institutions despite skepticism and criticism from some industry professionals over how the rankings are calculated. But some higher education researchers are aiming to take a closer look at ranking methodologies to see if colleges might be able to use them, rather than fixating on the criticism. More...

By Chronicle Staff. Report: “Revisiting the Relationship Between Institutional Rank and Student Engagement”
Authors: John D. Zilvinskis, research project associate, and Louis Rocconi, assistant scientist, both at Indiana University at Bloomington’s Center for Postsecondary Research
Summary: The researchers sought to determine what, if any, relationship existed between student engagement at any given college and how highly that institution was ranked by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, or Washington Monthly. Their study examined data on more than 80,000 freshmen and seniors at 64 colleges ranked by each of the three magazines in 2013. More...

By Charles Huckabee. The University of Missouri at Kansas City allowed its business school to run up an operating deficit of nearly $11 million as it pursued a national and global reputation, since tarnished by a rankings scandal, The Kansas City Star reports. More...

By Josie Gurney-Read. Loughborough University has been named Whatuni university of the year, ahead of Harper Adams and Swansea, based on the reviews of over 20,000 students. Read more... 

By Josie Gurney-Read. New rankings, published by Whatuni, reveal the top universities in the country based on the reviews of 20,000 students.
Annual rankings have revealed the best universities according to reviews published online by around 20,000 students across the UK. Read more...