For some years now, universities have been subjected to various ranking exercises both nationally and internationally. These rankings are based on different calculation methodologies and can therefore produce results that are sometimes very different from each other. In the international rankings, Italian universities are invariably far from the top positions as the agencies that produce the rankings adopt criteria that refer mainly to the Anglo-Saxon reality, however, the situation does not appear static and the policies implemented by the universities to improve their reputation seem to bear fruit. It is therefore interesting to examine the position of the University of Verona which is present in the main national and international rankings.
QS - Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings
Results of the 2022 edition
In the QS World University Ranking 2022, published in London by QS, Verona is present in the ranking together with 36 other Italian universities, positioning itself in the world range in the “801-1000” group.
Methodology
This ranking defines the best 500 universities in the world by assigning them individual positions; the remaining universities are placed within score bands starting from position 501 up to 1000.
This positioning is the result obtained from the survey of the data of each institution relating to four major areas: Research, Didactics, Job prospects, International profile.
The quality of these key areas is assessed using two global surveys, one aimed at academics (weight 40%) and another to employers (weight 10%), but objective indicators are also used, such as the ratio between the number of teachers and the number of students (weight 20%); citations by faculty (weight 20%), the proportion of foreign students (weight 5%), the proportion of foreign teachers (weight 5%).
QS Subject Rankings
The University of Verona is also present in the QS Subject Rankings 2020. In particular, the University stands out for its results in the Subject of Life Sciences and Medicine and in particular in Individual Subject Medicine.
Methodology
Alongside the main World Ranking, QS publishes the QS World University Rankings by Subject, which assess 48 distinct subject areas.
These rankings by subject are compiled with the use of two global surveys managed by QS itself and aimed at academics and employers who assess the international reputation of institutions in each subject, but two objective indicators are also used to measure the impact of the research on the basis of citations by paper and h-index in the subject in question. This latest data comes from Elsevier's Scopus database, the world's most comprehensive research citation database. All of these four components are then combined with weightings adapted for each discipline and produce the final results for each of the subject rankings.
THE - Times Higher Education World University Ranking
In the world ranking THE - Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022, made up of more than 1,600 institutions, Verona ranks in the range between 401st and 500th place, with the best results in the indicators regarding the number of citations, the international perspective, and income from the industrial sector.
Methodology
The ranking takes into consideration only the best 1,000 positions determined on the basis of 13 performance indicators grouped into 5 thematic areas: Teaching (weight 30%); Research (weight 30%); Citations (weight 30%); Income from the industrial sector (weight 2.5%); International perspective (weight 7.5%).
The indicators used by THE are mainly relative values parameterized on the basis of the size of each institution evaluated: in this way large universities with quantitatively more consistent absolute numbers are not favored.
THE - Best Universities in Europe
In the THE - Best Universities in Europe 2022 ranking, Verona is among the 51 Italian universities classified and precisely in 6th place among Italian universities and 190th place in Europe. This ranking is based on the data and methodology already used by THE - World University Rankings but focuses on the best European institutions.
Methodology
It is the same as the World University Rankings which represent the specific of European universities. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021 globally ranks more than 1,600 universities worldwide; of these, just over 550 are European universities.
THE - Young University Rankings
THE - Young University Rankings 2021 takes into consideration universities under the age of 50 and the 2021 edition includes 475 institutions. The University of Verona ranks 93rd overall worldwide and 5th among Italian universities.
Methodology
This ranking lists the best universities in the world that are less than 50 years old. The method used considers the same 13 performance indicators of THE World University Rankings, but the methodology is recalibrated to give less weight to reputation and to reserve more for teaching, research, international perspectives, and knowledge transfer.