The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) now sits within the top 10.78% of the worldâs best universities, a clear improvement from last year's ranking of 11.8%. Alongside its sister institution, UniversitĂ© libre de Bruxelles (ULB), VUB ranks fifth among Belgian universities, according to the World University Rankings (WUR) by the British magazine Times Higher Education (THE). These rankings are highly influential for students choosing where to study, which is why VUB is advocating for an alternative ranking that takes university size into account. This would help prevent students from drawing misguided conclusions about the quality of smaller institutions based solely on traditional rankings. âIf you factor in the size of the universities, KULeuven, UGent, UAntwerpen, and VUB all rank among the absolute top in their category, regardless of their positions in traditional rankings,â stresses Vice-Rector Pieter Ballon.
THE evaluates universities across five areas: teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income. Eight of the ten Belgian universities listed, including all Flemish institutions, have improved their performance this year. KULeuven leads at 43rd place, followed by UGent (112), UAntwerpen (168), UCLouvain (175), and both ULB and VUB, which are placed in the 201-250 group.
VUB has maintained its position in the ranking, with notable progress in three of the five areas: industrial income (thanks to strong patent results), research quality (with an increase in citations), and international outlook (with a rise in international students and staff). These improvements have reinforced VUBâs standing in the top 10.78% of universities worldwide, a significant leap from last year.
Despite this being the universityâs highest position in the THE ranking to date, VUB continues to call for a ranking system that better reflects the performance of smaller universities.
All Flemish Universities Are Among the World's Best
âAlthough the THE ranking is widely respected, its methodology is often criticised for favouring larger institutions and not adequately accounting for the context of smaller universities,â explains Vice-Rector for Research Pieter Ballon. âThereâs a risk that students who rely on the current rankings may undervalue the quality of smaller universities. A new study by the VUB Data Office shows that when size is considered, KULeuven, UGent, UAntwerpen, and VUB all rank at the very top in their category, whether in terms of scientific publications or securing European research grants.â
VUB Vice-Rector for Research Pieter Ballon
Five Key Quotes from Pieter Ballonâs Radio Interview on Bruzz
âThis is a study that a student at our university would fail.â
âEven if we only look at objective data, itâs logical that a university three times the size of another will produce more publications. More researchers simply means more research.â
âReputation is an opinion, a subjective parameter, and certainly not an objective measure. For example, an objective parameter like âresearch outputâ only counts for 5.5%.â
âThe research confirms that the four largest Flemish universities, when adjusted for size, all rank at the top in their category. This applies to both the number of publications and the acquisition of European grants.â
âPeople might find it odd that weâve created our own ranking, but adjusting for size is not strange at all.â*
Read the full article and listen to the interview on Bruzz (in Dutch)
*This is a machine translation. We apologise for any inaccuracies.