The British consultancy Times Higher Education (THE) recently released the global ranking of the best universities in four areas of knowledge. Unicamp ranked second in Brazil in the areas of Economics and Social Sciences. In Education, the University reached third place in the country. In addition to the ranking by areas, the ranking for universities in emerging economy countries was also released, in which Unicamp is in 48th position among the 698 institutions analyzed.
“It is a recognition of the importance and impact of our work, which is essential to give more visibility to what we do”, says the director of the Institute of Human Sciences (IFCH), Andréia Galvão. The director considers, on the other hand, that, like all rankings, the evaluation only concerns some aspects of what is done in the area. “Like every performance indicator, Times Higher Education measures only a part of what we do, and does not reflect our full potential, nor the contributions of our teaching and research activity, when analyzed under qualitative criteria”.
The director of the Institute of Economics (IE), André Biancarelli, notes that the rankings They do not take into account the specificities of universities or courses. However, obtaining a good result in THE is a source of satisfaction for the Institute. “This shows that we have managed, without giving up our identity and history, to carry out our academic mission at a high level within the Brazilian reality. And, in particular, it also helps to reduce the heavy and repeated criticisms that IE-Unicamp receives to what they actually are: attacks from those who ignore the reality of our institution, or mere political and ideological dispute”, he states.
Renê Silveira, director of the Faculty of Education (FE), points out the importance of the classification, as it highlights the quality of Unicamp, but also considers that there are limitations in the ranking. The teacher questions, for example, the fact that social impacts and inclusion are not considered. “It is important to celebrate Unicamp’s position, because it actually attests to the excellence of our university in several aspects. And this is a merit to be recognized and valued. But it is also necessary to problematize the ranking so that we do not fail to understand in which areas, equally important, we still need to advance, and also those in which we could, who knows, have already surpassed better ranked institutions, if certain criteria were considered”, he says.
THE ranking considers 13 criteria, relating to teaching, research, citations, international presence and innovation. The areas of knowledge announced on October 13th were Law, Social Sciences, Education and Economics. Unicamp was not evaluated in the area of Law, as it does not have a course in the area.
The challenge of maintaining excellence in a context of attacks on science
The directors of IFCH, IE and FE pointed out that budget restrictions on science, technology and education bring challenges to maintaining excellence in universities. Attacks on critical thinking, they assess, also impose difficulties.
“In addition to budget restrictions, threats to the postgraduate evaluation system and repeated cuts in public research funding, the devaluation of public servants is a disincentive to work in the area, which compromises teaching, the production of knowledge and scientific dissemination. In the case of Human Sciences, the challenges are even greater, due to the attacks they suffer in the country's current political situation”, he points out. the director of IFCH. The professor states that, given the cuts in investment in science and education, the excellence of universities has been preserved by the dedication of the academic community.
For the IE director, although the humanities do not require as large a budget as areas that depend on expensive materials and equipment, the collapse of Science and Technology funding in the country is equally compromising. “The progressive strangulation of postgraduate programs (which is even reflected in a significant reduction in demand from students) is just the most eloquent example. Furthermore, the political, but also intellectual, environment of aversion to critical thinking, oriented towards national development, increases the size of the challenge”, he assesses.
The FE director highlights that achieving and maintaining excellence requires budgetary conditions, which have been compromised. “Ensuring a budget suited to the university’s needs is an absolute priority. As we know, in the current context this requires a lot of political struggle, on different fronts. In addition, universities also need to have didactic-scientific, administrative and financial and asset management autonomy, as provided for in the Constitution. Only in this way will they be able to properly organize their operations, in order to fulfill with high quality the mission that society entrusts to them”.
Unicamp is among the 50 best universities in emerging economy countries
On October 19, THE also released the ranking for universities located in emerging economy countries. Unicamp ranked 48th overall, the same ranking as last year. In Brazil, it is the second highest rated university, with USP being the first. In total, 698 universities from 54 countries entered the ranking.
