UCL climbs Shanghai world rankings to 17th place

The ARWU has been publishing its ranking of the world's top 500 universities since 2003, making it the longest standing of the international university rankings. UCL's performance has improved steadily over the last decade, with 17th being the highest position it has achieved.

This ranking uses six objective indicators to rank universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, the number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Reuters and the number of articles published in journals Nature and Science. More than 1200 universities are ranked by ARWU every year and the best 500 are published.

Professor David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research), said: "Our strong performance in key tables such as this one is undoubtedly a source of pride for the UCL community and it is satisfying to see our progress over the years in this particular ranking, which is well-regarded and has stable methodology.

"That said, no ranking can ever fully reflect our unique strengths. These include the sheer breadth of our research expertise, which underpins our commitment to using our collective insights and discoveries to address the world's major problems.

"Another strength key to both our identity and success is our distinctive integration of research and teaching, preparing the next generation of leaders to contribute to humanity's progress."

Links

• ARWU rankings 
• UCL in league tables
• UCL's Global Engagement Strategy