The University of Oxford has once again secured its position as the best university globally for an unprecedented eighth year in a row, according to the Times Higher
Education World University Rankings. These rankings, unveiled in Sydney, Australia, assess 1,904 universities from 108 countries worldwide.
In the THE World Rankings 2024, Oxford University claimed the top spot, with Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) following closely in second and third places, respectively.
Expressing her delight at Oxford's continued success, Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey stated, "I am absolutely thrilled that Oxford has been once again named the top university in the world. Eight years of leading the Times Higher Education world rankings is a testament to the impactful research we conduct that tackles some of the grand challenges facing people and the planet, as well as the exceptional standards of teaching we deliver that will continue to inspire generations to come. I am filled with admiration for my colleagues and gratitude for all their efforts that propel this unique institution forwards."
Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, remarked, "In the World University Ranking’s 20-year history, no university has topped the ranking as consistently as the University of Oxford – the world’s number one for the eighth consecutive annual edition. The achievement is based on true strength-in-depth, across all 18 performance indicators, covering the teaching environment, international outlook, and industry-links. Oxford especially shines out when it comes to outstanding, internationally impactful research."
"This year we have analyzed the reach and influence of an unprecedented 16.5 million research outputs (with 134 million citations) in a new and richer set of research metrics and gathered the expert views of over 68,000 scholars across the word, and all this comprehensive data finds that Oxford excels."
"Oxford first topped the global rankings in 2017 when fewer than 1,000 of the world’s research-intensive universities were evaluated. Today more than 2,000 submitted for assessment, and we have seen dramatic progress from East Asian universities, particularly from China. Given this global long-term context, Oxford’s world leadership is even more remarkable."
This year's evaluation considers 18 calibrated performance indicators, assessing universities in five key areas: teaching (learning environment), research environment (volume, income, and reputation), research quality (citation impact, research strength, research excellence, and research influence), international outlook (staff, students, and research), and industry (income and patents). Oxford University excelled across all these areas, with particular distinction in research environment and quality, teaching, and industry – based on the frequency of citations of the university's research in patents.
This accolade comes on the heels of Oxford's top ranking in the inaugural European QS rankings, where it was closely followed by ETH Zurich in Switzerland and the University of Cambridge in second and third places, respectively, earlier this month. Photo by Tejvan Pettinger, Wikimedia commons.