Uppsala University climbing in world rankings
The University Building in Uppsala. Uppsala University is ranked as the second-best institution in Sweden after Karolinska Institutet at number 37. Photo: David Naylor
Uppsala University has climbed seven places from 89 to 82 in the international Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as the Shanghai Ranking. This means Uppsala University has taken second place in Sweden behind Karolinska Institutet.
Since 2003, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has been presenting an annual ranking of the world’s 1,000 leading research universities. This year, more than 2,500 institutions were assessed and the 1,000 best universities in the world were listed.
Uppsala University is ranked as the second-best institution in Sweden after Karolinska Institutet at number 37, while Stockholm University is third best at number 98. The top Scandinavian university is the University of Copenhagen in 32nd place.
“Uppsala University’s improved position is largely due to higher points in the ‘Alumni’ indicator, which is based on its alumni’s distinctions. One contributing factor was Svante Pääbo’s Nobel Prize in 2022, which boosted the University’s points and position in the rankings,” explains Emma Östlund, Controller at the Planning Division, Uppsala University.
Svante Pääbo was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2022. His research career began with a doctoral degree taken at Uppsala University.
Among the most cited researchers
“The University is also making progress in terms of the ‘Highly Cited’ indicator, which is based on Clarivate’s annual compilation of the most cited researchers in the world in their respective subjects. In 2022, five of the University’s researchers made it on to this list and the University’s Vice-Chancellor was ranked in a total of three subjects – another factor contributing to the University’s ranking results,” says Emma Östlund.
Uppsala University’s Vice-Chancellor Anders Hagfeldt made it on to Clarivate’s list of the most cited researchers in 2022 in the fields of Chemistry, Environment and Ecology and Materials Science. The university's other researchers on the list are Dan Andersson (microbiology), Zhihan LV (computer science), Mia Wadelius (pharmacology and toxicology) and Lars Wallentin (clinical medicine).
The ARWU list is led by three universities in the US: Harvard University, Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The University of Cambridge in the UK placed fourth.
Annica Hulth