Unicamp is among the 200 best universities in the world, according to the QS World University Rankings 2023 assessment – in its field of knowledge modality. The survey was carried out based on the evaluation of 1.596 universities and is divided into five major fields of knowledge: Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Management, Life Sciences and Medicine, in addition to Engineering and Technology.
The ranking was prepared by the British consultancy QS, a global reference in the evaluation of higher education institutions. For this edition, 54 areas were analyzed, in addition to examining 16,4 million articles (published between 2016 and 2020) and around 117,8 million citations (2016-2021). Harvard University, in the United States, came first in four of the five categories in the ranking – the exception was the Engineering and Technology segment, at the top of which was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In nine research areas, Unicamp was among the top hundred on the planet: Petroleum Engineering; Dentistry; Agricultural engineering; Anthropology; Development Studies; Modern Languages; Chemical engineering; Sociology; and Electrical Engineering. In total, it advanced in 13 areas, in addition to increasing its participation in the ranking, appearing in two more areas than in the previous edition of the classification. Of the Brazilian universities, it obtained the second best overall result. Brazil ranked 15th among the countries with the most highly rated courses, in addition to having the 20th strongest higher education system in the world.
Unicamp's dean of research, professor João Romano, celebrates the announcement. “In general terms, it can be said that we have relatively close performances in the areas, all representing extremely qualified work”, he assesses. One of the reasons for the importance of the ranking, according to Romano, is the fact that it considers fundamental aspects of universities in its evaluation process. The main ones, he lists, are: academic reputation; employability of students and their reputation among employers; scientific citations and international research partnerships; and the presence of foreign students and teachers at the institution.
The data analyzed by QS corroborates the advances made by Unicamp in the areas of Engineering and in the field of technology in a short space of time: in just two years, the institution rose 29 positions in these categories. The University's performance in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering stood out - a course in which it ranked 24th best worldwide (and first among Brazilian universities).
Equally significant is Unicamp's evolution in the areas of Life Sciences and Medicine, jumping from 216th to 177th place between 2021 and 2023; and Natural Sciences, a segment in which the University came from 143rd (2021) to 113th in the ranking this year.
Although it is not Unicamp's objective to climb positions in the ranking, its performance in the evaluation is a consequence of the quality of the work carried out by the University, notes Romano. “It is the result of both the personal effort of each member of the academic community and our institutional maturity.” Currently, the role of the ranking in publicizing the name of universities is undeniable, being essential for these institutions to achieve internationalization goals and attract external resources, for example. Not to mention the contribution to the community’s self-esteem. “Increasing the prestige of the institution is a motivating factor for the entire community, which is, in the end, those who build this prestige with their day-to-day work”, concludes the dean.
Go here for more details on the QS ranking.
Check out the research areas in which Unicamp is among the top hundred in the world
