Science Minister Bernd Sibler congratulated the University on this result: 'The University of Passau has not only done very well in the global THE subject ranking but has in fact got off to a flying start in the business and economics area! This is clear evidence of the excellent work of my alma mater in recent years—in economics, in the sciences and social sciences. The University of Passau plays an important role in strengthening Bavaria's position as a place to do science. It shows in an exemplary manner that our younger universities in Bavaria are punching above their weight in the national and international academic arena.'
University President Ulrich Bartosch said: 'I am proud that the University of Passau has done so well in the these global league tables. This increases the attractiveness of our University for students and academics and shows the competency and hard work of our researchers and all employees.'
The Times Higher Education rankings are based on 13 indicators. What is special about the subject rankings is that these indicators are given different weightings to account for the differences across disciplines. Teaching, research and citations, the main indicators, each account for about 30 percent of the overall university score; The remaining two metrics are international outlook and industry income.
In the latest THE ranking, the School of Business, Economics and Information Systems made significant gains on its previous result and competed at eye-level with highly renowned business schools and faculties from around the globe. In the THE subject ranking, a total of 729 business and economics faculties were evaluated and then ranked in groups: Passau attained a place in the 251–300 rank group. This puts the faculty in 10th place in Germany and 5th place in Bavaria. Jan Schumann, Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Information Systems, said: 'This is a truly great success for all of us. The excellent work on our research and teaching and the professorial appointments strategy of recent years have fully paid off, and I am very confident that we will be able to maintain and even improve on this result.' Passau's School of Business, Economics and Information Systems achieved above-average scores for industry income and citations respectively. One Passau institute, CenTouris, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, was instrumental in bringing about the high industry income figure.
The Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics is also pleased that it has moved up two places since last year's ranking: In Germany it is now ranked 13th (2019: 15th) and 4th in Bavaria. In the worldwide comparison the faculty was ranked among the leading 151–175 out of the total participating 827 faculties. 'The Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics is delighted at the ranking result and sees it as an external confirmation of its work done so far in research and teaching. Nevertheless, we will not rest on our laurels but strive to become even better in these two core missions', said Tobias Kaiser, Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics.
The Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Malte Rehbein, emphasised that this year's result has been motivational for his faculty. 'It is very pleasing that the faculty was able to improve its ranking significantly in the area of internationalisation—a trend we are keen to continue in the future. The international outlook indicator is computed on the basis of international staff and student ratios and the number of publications with international co-authorship. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities reached the 501–600 rank group among 791 participating universities worldwide in the social science ranking. In Germany, it thus occupies 23rd place and 3rd place in Bavaria.