Academic Centre
For the first time, the University of Latvia (UL) is included in the prestigious Times Higher Education University World University Rankings under the classification “social sciences”, where UL ranks 601+, inform the makers of rankings.
The ranking highlights the leading universities in sociology, geography, politics and international studies, as well as communications and media studies.
The ranking results are based on the following criteria: studies (study environment) – 32.4%, research (volume, income and reputation) – 32.6%, citations (research impact) – 25%, international outlook (staff, students and research) – 7.5%, industry income (innovation) – 2.5%.
“Entry into the World University Rankings is undoubtedly an achievement of UL, which has been possible due to dedicated work of researchers and academic staff of several faculties and institutes. It confirms the potential of our further education and serves as an evidence that the results of our research are valued and recognized worldwide,” conveys Professor Indriķis Muižnieks, Acting Rector of the University of Latvia. “I would like to extend particular congratulations to the faculties whose contributions and performance have been reflected in this ranking – the Faculty of Social Sciences and its Dean Jānis Ikstens, the Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences and its Dean Zaiga Krišjāne, Advanced Social and Political Research Institute and its Director Aija Zobena, as well as all of the staff members who have meticulously invested their work in this achievement, “says I. Muižnieks.
The 2020 Times Higher Education World University Rankings for social sciences subjects includes 720 universities, whereas last year it encompassed 666 higher education institutions.
In these rankings, Latvia is also represented by the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, which, like the UL, holds 601+ places.
The highest result is attained by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) – is ranked the highest, followed by the University of Oxford (UK), and Harvard University (USA) ranks the third.
Times Higher Education is one of the world's three most influential university rankings, and released for the 17th year. The rankings of the world universities in the classification of social sciences uses the same 13 performance indicators as in the general classification of world universities, but the methodology is applied to particular fields.
