European students place Uppsala at the top

Students rank Uppsala University in first place among all institutions in Europe in the subject of biology, and in second place in chemistry. This is shown in this year’s results from CHE European ranking in science subjects, which is being published today. Uppsala places close to the top in physics and mathematics as well.

In Europe 130 universities and colleges offer extraordinary research-based international programs for master and doctoral students and are therefore classed in the “Excellence Group” in CHE’s 2010 Excellence Ranking. Taken together with last year’s study of the social science subjects of psychology, political science, and economics, Uppsala University is on the top list in all subjects compared with the exception of economics. In biology Uppsala is ranked first, and in chemistry it comes in second.

Hans Ellegren, dean of the Biology Division, is proud and delighted to see Uppsala University in first place. This shows that the robust initiatives taken to boost education are appreciated by students. Among other things, master students are placed in research laboratories for a major portion of their program. There are also a number of extremely strong research environments in biology at Uppsala University that international students are aware of and seek out. Moreover, leading international scientists who are visiting Uppsala are involved in teaching.

“The people at the Biology Education Center are doing a tremendous job and are a major factor in this success. We have a highly professional organization to look after international students and to establish collaborations and exchanges with the best foreign universities,” says Hans Ellegren.

Besides the evaluations of the present study situation by current students, the ranking is based on eight further criteria, including number of publications, number of citations, mobility of students and faculty, and prevalence of Erasmus Mundus master programs or Marie Curie projects. Any excellence grants from the European Research Council or Nobel laureates among the researchers on the faculty are also given weight. The ranking contains a great deal of useful information for students about master and doctoral programs, about research groups and research foci at the faculties, and about the size of faculties, student housing, and admissions regulations.

The Center for Higher Education Development (CHE) is an independent institution that works to reform the higher education system. CHE has its headquarters in Gütersloh and presents an annual CHE University Ranking of German and foreign colleges and universities for future students. CHE Excellence Ranking is the first ranking to compare the best research institutions in Europe for coming master and doctoral students.

The results can be seen on the CHE home page.

For more information, please contact the dean or division deans:

Hans Ellegren, biology, mobile: +46 (0)70-425 06 37
Anders Hagfeldt, chemistry, mobile: +46 (0)70-425 02 78
Ulf Danielsson, physics, mobile: +46 (0)70-314 10 86
Ingemar Kaj, mathematics, mobile: 070-167 93 43

For questions about CHE Excellence Ranking, CHE experts can be reached at excellence@che-ranking.de, or telephone: +49 5241 211 79 71.