TU Delft Dutch frontrunner in reputation ranking

Lees hier het oorspronkelijke artikel in het Nederlands

This year, TU Delft retained its position in the shared places 51-60. It is the highest ranking university in the Netherlands.

The British journal Times Higher Education asks tens of thousands of scientists worldwide which ten universities are the best in their field of expertise. Apart from TU Delft, people often mention the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Leiden University, Utrecht University (UU) and Wageningen University & Research Centre (WUR). These are all ranked in the top half of the list. The rankings are clustered within groups of ten because the mutual differences are too tiny to be relevant, according to the editors.

The University of Amsterdam dropped to the 61-70 group last year, followed by Leiden University that has climbed to the 71-80 group. Utrecht University is stable in the 81-90 group and Wageningen University, which dropped out of the top 100 the previous year, has re-emerged in the 91-100 group.

Wageningen’s return fits within a wider trend of the traditional global elite losing ground. Editor Phil Baty said that “Although the results show how difficult it is to conquer a place next to the traditional American powerhouses – with 44 universities in the top 100 the US clearly dominates the list – the current list reflects a broader trend of increasing worldwide competition.”

Harvard University (US) traditionally leads the reputation list. Second and third place are also American universities: Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. The British universities of Cambridge and Oxford take fourth and fifth place in the list.

British universities are less successful than in previous years. The UK has nine universities on the list, one less than last year, and all London universities have gone down. “Most worrying,” Baty calls the drop, “especially if this marks the beginning of a downward trend.” He wonders if the UK will be able to maintain its high educational status in a post-Brexit world.

HOP, Steffi Weber