Majority of Irish universities slip down latest global rankings
Nine Ucc 534th To The Rankings Places Fell In
Research performance and intensified competition from well-funded institutions abroad has seen the majority of Irish universities fall in the latest global university rankings.
Five of the eight Irish universities which feature on the 2023 Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), published on Monday, have slipped down the list over the last 12 months.
The CWUR research analysed 20,531 universities from 95 countries, ranking each according to four weighted factors: quality of education, employability, quality of faculty, and research performance.
Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland's highest-ranking university, fell 12 places to 247th position overall.
University College Cork (UCC) fell nine places to 534th, University of Galway was down 19 places to 668th, Dublin City University (DCU) fell 20 spots to 1,098th, and Maynooth University dropped down 32 places to 1,268th.
Just two Irish universities — University of Limerick (UL) and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) — improved their score, placing 920th (up 19 places) and 1,011th (up six places), respectively. University College Dublin (UCD) placed 288th of the institutions surveyed, the same position it held in last year's rankings.
The CWUR says that while Ireland is well-represented in the rankings, top universities here are coming under increased pressure from well-funded institutions in other countries.
CWUR president Dr Nadim Mahassen said that funding to further promote the development and reputation of Ireland’s higher education system would be "vital if the country aspires to be more competitive on the global stage”.
“Efforts must be made to ensure that Ireland attracts top academics and students, that increasing enrolment numbers at universities come alongside increases in teaching capacity, and that tertiary education expenditure as a percentage of the national GDP steadily grows in the years to come," he said.
Globally, the CWUR top 10 is unchanged from last year.
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, retained its position as the world's top university, scoring a perfect 100 points out of 100.
It was followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, University of Cambridge, and University of Oxford. Princeton University in New Jersey, University of Chicago, Columbia University in New York, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University rounded out the top 10.
Though many of the top universities in the world are located in the US, 80% of its institutions actually slipped down the rankings compared to last year.
Some 640 European institutions were included in the rankings, though the CWUR described the overall European picture as "grim" given stiff competition from universities in North America, Asia, and Oceania.
"The overall slide of US universities mirrors those of French, German, and Japanese institutions, while the declines of UK and Russian universities have been less severe," he said.
"With Chinese institutions challenging their Western counterparts, American and European universities cannot afford to rest on their laurels.”