One of the Best Universities in the World

For the first time, the University of Jena has managed to be listed among the 200 best scientific institutions worldwide in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking (WUR). Specifically, Jena reached place 189 and has thus continuously improved. This also applies to a Germany-wide comparison, in which the university comes in 20th place out of 50 ranked universities. The university has improved significantly in terms of citations (from 384th to 290th place). In the areas of teaching (190 to 194), international orientation (449 to 442) and research (210 to 237), it has remained about the same.

1,799 universities from 104 countries were ranked in the WUR. The first three places are occupied by Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge. After that follow mainly universities that finance themselves through tuition fees.

link to the THE ranking 2023External link

The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) is a leading consulting organization providing policy advice, strategic insights, and consulting services to governments and universities to improve educational and research outcomes. The CWUR currently ranks the University of Jena at the 7th position worldwide with regard to the subject category Optics: link to the CWUR Optics rankingExternal link

Moreover, CWUR ranks the University of Jena among the top 1.6 percent of 20,531 universities analyzed worldwideExternal link. In figures, that means 328^th worldwide, 131^st in Europe and 24^th in Germany.

Since 2012, the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) publishes the largest academic ranking worldwide according to independently gathered information. It is based on seven indicators grouped into four areas: Teaching Quality, Alumni Careers, Academic Staff and Research Performance. It does not use survey results or data from the universities, but its own indicators. Research performance, for example, is measured by the number of publications in the most influential journals. The ranking started out as a project with the aim of rating the top 100 world universities. It was quickly reported worldwide by universities and the media and many requests were received to expand it. The ranking was expanded to list the top 2,000 out of more than twenty thousand universities worldwide, making it the largest academic ranking of universities worldwide.

In the current Academic Ranking of World Universities, the so-called Shanghai ranking, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena ranks among the 500 best universities worldwide, and among the top 400 for physics. In 2024, the University of Jena was ranked 26^th among Germany's best universities.

link to the Shanghai Ranking 2023External link

The Shanghai ranking is issued by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy and considers the number of publications and citations in scientific trade magazines, particularly in the high-level journals Nature and Science, as well as Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals awarded to researchers and alumni, and, thus, measures the research performance of each university. More than 1,200 universities are presented in the ranking.

In the QS World University Ranking 2024, in which study programmes from 1,594 universities around the world were evaluated, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena also performed excellently. Twelve Jena study programs were evaluated; all are in the top third worldwide and nationally.

Specifically, the ranked degree programs in the natural sciences achieved a place in the range of #251-300 (in Germany: 22^th).

The QS World University Subject Ranking is preceded by a selection of universities. To be included, a university must have a good academic reputation and an above-average number of research publications. Those who are included in the ranking are assessed according to surveys on their reputation, their international research networks, and the citation rates of their published research results.

link to the QS World University RankingsExternal link