In recent years, the University of Passau has systematically developed its research profile. In its designated established and emerging research areas, it concentrates its academic strengths and thereby creates the conditions to further expand its research activities, secure additional third-party funding and strengthen its international visibility.
"The latest ranking results show that this strategic orientation is increasingly having an effect: our University has further improved its international positioning and developed its strengths, particularly in the areas of Research Environment, Research Quality and International Outlook. At the same time, the University of Passau continues to hold its own among the best 30 percent of universities ranked worldwide. For a university of our size, this is a remarkable development and underlines the international competitiveness of Passau as a centre for research", explains Professor Jan Hendrik Schumann, President of the University of Passau.
One factor that has contributed to this strong result is the Research Environment category, where the University has successfully increased its score for the fourth consecutive time. This category assesses how good the research conditions at a university are, with three aspects feeding into the overall picture: research reputation measures the international standing of the university as a research location. To this end, researchers are asked which universities they consider to be particularly strong in research. Research Income records the amount of research funding secured in relation to the size of the university. Research Productivity considers the scholarly publication output per researcher.
Furthermore, the categories Research Quality and International Outlook made a significant contribution to this strong performance. In terms of research quality, particular consideration is given to the international influence of the university's research, for example how frequently its academic publications are cited by other researchers. International Outlook, by contrast, takes into account how well connected the university is worldwide – including through the proportion of international students and researchers, as well as through joint research with academics from other countries.
Internationalisation has played an increasingly important role at the University of Passau for many years. Over the past decade, the number of international students has risen by almost 90 percent. As a result, around one in five students is now international. Passau's location in the three-country border triangle of Germany–Austria–Czech Republic, the diverse cross-border exchange opportunities with more than 320 partner higher education institutions abroad, and the European character of the location make the University attractive to students from all over the world. In individual degree programmes, the proportion of international students now stands at 80 percent or more – a clear sign of the University's international appeal, but also of its close ties to the European neighbouring regions.
The THE World University Ranking is once again led by the University of Oxford (UK), followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) in second place. Third place is shared by the universities of Princeton and Stanford (both USA). The leading continental European university is ETH Zurich (Switzerland), which places 12th. The top three places among German universities are occupied by the Technical University of Munich (25), followed by Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (41) and the University of Heidelberg (45).
About the ranking
The Times Higher Education Ranking is one of the most significant university rankings worldwide, in which more and more universities participate from year to year. A total of 18 different indicators from the categories Teaching, Research Environment, Research Quality, Industry Engagement and International Outlook are compared. Some of the data, in particular key figures on students, staff and financial resources, is supplied by the participating universities themselves. Further data is compiled by the ranking provider THE from academic databases and from a survey of researchers conducted by THE.