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U-Multirank is a new multi-dimensional, user-driven approach to international ranking of higher education institutions. The dimensions it includes are teaching and learning, research, knowledge transfer, international orientation and regional engagement. Based on empirical data U-Multirank compares institutions with similar institutional profiles and allows users to develop personalised rankings by selecting performance measures/indicators in terms of their own preferences.
The first ranking – 2014 – covers more than 850 higher education institutions, 1,200 faculties and 5,000 study programmes from 70 countries around the world. It provides an institutional ranking of whole institutions as well as field-based rankings for electrical and mechanical engineering, business studies and physics. After 2014 the coverage of institutions and fields will be extended.
U-Multirank is based on a methodology that reflects both the diversity of higher education institutions and the variety of dimensions of university excellence in an international context. The data included in U-Multirank are drawn from a number of sources, providing users with a comprehensive set of information:  information supplied by institutions; data from international bibliometric and patent data bases; and surveys of more than 60,000 students at participating universities – one of the largest samples in the world and offering students a unique peer perspective.
U-Multirank is prepared with seed funding from the European Union and led by a consortium headed by Professor Dr. Frans van Vught of the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) in the Netherlands and Professor Dr. Frank Ziegele of the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) in Germany. Other partner organisations include the Centre for Science and Technology Studies from Leiden University (CWTS), Catholic University Leuven, academic publishers Elsevier, the Bertelsmann Foundation, Push and software firm Folge 3. The consortium also works closely with a range of national ranking partners and stakeholder organisations.

A new global university ranking, set up with €2 million in funding from the European Union, is launched today. U-Multirank, which assesses the performance of more than 850 higher education institutions worldwide, breaks new ground by producing multi-dimensional listings rating universities on a much wider range of factors than existing international rankings. The idea is to avoid simplistic league tables which can result in misleading comparisons between institutions of very different types or mask significant differences in quality between courses at the same university. Individual users will be able to build a personalised ranking based on their particular needs. This will allow them to obtain information on the universities or specific disciplines which most interest them and to choose criteria according to their own preferences.
Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth said: "I welcome the launch of this exciting new development in higher education. U-Multirank will enable students to make more informed decisions about where to study and give us a more accurate picture of how universities perform. We are proud of our world-class higher education, but we need many kinds of universities, catering for a wide range of needs; that means strong technical and regional universities just as much as outstanding research universities. U-Multirank highlights many excellent performers that do not show up in current, research-focused, global rankings – including more than 300 universities that have never appeared in any world ranking until now."
While traditional international rankings tend to focus on research excellence and neglect other factors, U-Multirank will base its assessments on five key areas:

• Research performance

• Quality of teaching and learning

• International orientation

• Success in knowledge transfer (partnerships with business and start-ups)

• Regional involvement.

The new ranking also takes account of feedback from 60 000 students at the participating universities. U-Multirank assesses the overall performance of universities but also ranks them in selected academic fields: in 2014 the fields are business studies, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and physics; in 2015, psychology, computer science and medicine will be added. The universities are tested against up to 30 separate indicators and rated in five performance groups, from 'A' (very good) through to 'E' (weak). The results show that while over 95% of institutions achieve an 'A' score on at least one measure, only 12% have more than 10 top scores. Of the 850 universities in the ranking, 62% are from Europe, 17% from North America, 14% from Asia and 7% from Oceania, Latin America and Africa.

Background

An independent consortium led by the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) in Germany and the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) in the Netherlands compiled the new ranking. Other partner organisations include the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University (the Netherlands), Catholic University Leuven (Belgium), academic publishers Elsevier, the Bertelsmann Foundation and software firm Folge 3. The consortium also works closely with a range of national ranking partners and stakeholder organisations.
A new approach to university rankings was first proposed by Member States in 2008 and the European Commission subsequently invited experts to carry out a feasibility study to ensure it would have the support of universities and students. The consortium was responsible for the selection process and methodology. Of the 850 universities featuring in U-Multirank, more than 500 provided comprehensive data. The others were assessed on the basis of data available through publicly available sources such as patent data bases in the area of research and knowledge transfer. U-Multirank received €2 million in EU funding from the former Lifelong Learning Programme (now Erasmus+) for the years 2013-2015, with the possibility of a further two years of funding in 2015-2017. The goal is for an independent organisation to manage the ranking on a sustainable business model thereafter.

For more information

U-Multirank press release

U-Multirank FAQ

Press package

Commissioner Vassiliou's website.

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