Riga Technical University (RTU) has significantly climbed in «THE Emerging Economies University Rankings 2019» established by one of the world’s most prestigious ranking agencies «Times Higher Education (THE)», taking 196th place and becoming the highly rated university among the Latvian higher education institutions. In the previous evaluation, RTU ranked between top 251– 300. RTU is the only one of the universities in the Baltic States whose assessment has increased. Other universities have experienced a drop or have remained in the previous positions.
The ranking has been produced for the sixth year in a row and includes 442 universities from 43 emerging economies. RTU achievement – 196th place – is significantly ahead of the University of Latvia, which is ranked second among the Latvian higher education institutions and ranked between top 251–300. Results were announced on 15 January.
«RTU climb in the ranking has occurred due to an increase in scientific activity – compared to other Latvian higher education institutions, RTU scientists have been active in publishing their research results in the important Scopus database, providing a major contribution to the economy. However, more important than quantity is the fact that our publications have become more qualitative. International recognition and citation have grown, and our performance in science is increasingly being appreciated. One of the success factors of RTU is international cooperation, for example, with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, the European Space Agency,» says Director of RTU Department of Quality Management and Document Processing Juris Iljins.
The ranking assesses the performance of universities in five areas of activity: teaching (the learning environment) – 30 %, research (volume, income and reputation) – 30%, citations (research influence) – 20%, international outlook (staff, students and research) – 10% and industry income (knowledge transfer) – 10%. The obtained rank is determined by the total score. RTU performance is highly valued in the areas of internationalization, knowledge transfer and teaching.
Chinese universities rank among the top three: Tsinghua University ranks first, Peking University – second and Zhejiang University – third. In the ranking, China is represented with 72 universities, followed by India with 49 universities, and Russia with 35 higher education institutions.
