Riga Technical University takes part in many national and international ratings and comparison tools. International ratings promote healthy competition among universities; they may be of use for future students choosing a university to study.
Ratings allow RTU to assess its achievements according to the international criteria and weigh itself against other higher education institutions in Latvia and abroad.
Based on the ranks received within various ratings it is possible to make conclusions on the current performance and set new goals concerning organization of the study process, research activities and overall sustainable development and progress of the university.
RTU is ranked in the following international ratings: QS Stars University Ratings, QS University Rankings: EECA, U-Multirank, UI GreenMetric Ranking, 4International Colleges & Universities, Worldwide Professional University Rankings, Webometrics Ranking of World Universities and other.
For the first time, the Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management (FEEM) of Riga Technical University (RTU) and Riga Business School (RBS) receive the highest reputation rating in Latvia according to the ranking system of the world’s best business schools Eduniversal.
The rating is compiled by 1000 world’s best business school deans, identifying best and most recognizable business education institution in each country.
The high evaluation received this year is a confirmation of RTU’s well-considered internationalization strategy, choosing to cooperate with worldwide recognized universities, establish worldwide partner universities network and become a member of international consortia for higher education. For instance, this autumn RTU received an invitation to join prestigious international association T.I.M.E. (Top International Managers for Engineering), formed by the world’s technical universities that are interested in cooperation providing students with a competitive engineering education. Whereas this summer RTU became involved in the development of a uniform European University of Technology.
The opinion of the 1000 world’s best business school deans is also positively influenced by the fact that RTU improves its performance in various international rankings. This year, RTU has been ranked in the 701 to 750 range of QS World University Ranking 2021, which is the highest ranking among Latvian universities. RTU has been assessed in various ratings applying different methodologies and recognized as the best university in Latvia – this is also confirmed by the rating U-Multirank and Times Higher Education Impact, which ranks RTU among the 200 best universities in the world. RTU has also been ranked as a Five-Star University in QS Stars rating, that is the highest evaluation. RTU is the only Latvian higher education institution that has been ranked among the 40 best higher education institutions in the international rating World’s Universities with Real Impact, assessing the university’s contribution to promoting business capacity and development of the business environment. RTU ranks 36th and it is the best result not only in Latvia but also in the Baltic States.
The Eduniversal evaluation of the reputation is significantly influenced by the activity of FEEM and RBS administration and academic staff, developing a wide network of business education and innovation professionals, engaging in industry associations, participating in scientific conferences, assessing and improving the quality of business education at the international level, developing joint study programmes.
For the fifth consecutive year RTU FEEM and RBS Eduniversal rating of the world’s best business schools has been ranked in the four palmes league, that represents particularly high academic level, excellent quality and significant international influence in business and management education.
The international ranking of universities and business schools Eduniversal Business Schools Ranking lists the 1000 world’s best higher educational institutions that offer business and management education. The 4 palmes league includes 200 business schools with excellent evaluation and significant international influence. This ranking is a league of five palmes of excellence.
The rating is developed by the French rating agency and consulting company SMBG. It is an organization that specializes in higher education and vocational orientation. Every year it compiles the 1000 best
universities and business schools rating, as well as a rating that includes Master and MBA programs specializing in 50 different fields in 154 countries. Eduniversal aims to establish a selection of the world’s best higher education institutions in order to help students to choose the most appropriate universities and business schools in East Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Central Asia, Eurasia and the Middle East, Latin America, Oceania, Western Europe and North America on the basis of recommendations from recognized educational experts. Moreover, Eduniversal promotes international mobility of students and academic staff.
Riga Technical University (RTU) has significantly improved its position in the green policy and sustainability rating UI Green Metric World University Ranking, ranking among the 60 greenest universities in the world. In 2020 RTU ranked 56th. It is a significant achievement compared to 2019, when RTU was ranked 93–95. Moreover, RTU remains the only higher education institution in Latvia that has been ranked so high, as no other Latvian university has been able to rank even among 500 greenest universities.
In the Green Metric Rankings, world universities are ranked according to their commitment to reducing environmental impact. Higher education institutions’ compliance with the green principles is assessed by six criteria: common infrastructure, energy efficiency and climate change mitigation activities, waste management, efficient use of water resources, transport infrastructure and environmental education and research.
Compared to the previous year, RTU has improved its performance in all six indicators, achieving the best results in rating of transport infrastructure, environmental education and research and waste management.
RTU has received the same amount of points in the rating as the University of Genoa in Italy and Carleton University in Canada. Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands has been ranked first, the University of Oxford – second, and University of Nottingham – third, both in United Kingdom. The ranking also includes Liepaja University and Daugavpils University that are ranked 575th and 753rd, respectively.
«This year’s high performance can be explained by the fact that the results of our work start to appear. For example, RTU is switching to electric transport only, innovative ideas are being implemented in Ķīpsala student campus, hackathons have taken place and other processes are being conducted, that reduce environmental impact. However, the most important is that sustainability and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals will be fully integrated into RTU Development Strategy for the next period, continuing to effectively perform the initiated work. It is of high importance for us that our activities help the RTU team, students and society to be more responsible to the environment,» says Juris Iljins, Director of RTU Administrative Department.
To reduce human impact on the environment and climate change, RTU is committed to introducing the concept of Green Ķīpsala at its campus by 2023. To achieve this goal, RTU is improving its infrastructure in compliance with sustainability principles, changing student and staff habits, and using innovative green products and technologies developed by RTU researchers in Ķīpsala campus infrastructure.
Riga Technical University (RTU) has been ranked in the international rating «U-Multirank» as one of the 25 leading universities in the world in terms of Open Access Publications. This means that a significant number of RTU researchers’ publications can be found in open access scientific journals, making research results available to all interested parties. For several consecutive years, RTU has achieved the most convincing results of all universities in Latvia included in this rating.
«U-Multirank» rating consists of five dimensions of university activity – teaching and learning; research knowledge transfer; technology transfer or valorisation; international orientation; regional engagement, and in each of these dimensions, universities are evaluated on a number of indicators. This is the first year when universities have been evaluated on Open Access Publications indicator.
The performance of universities in each of the fields is evaluated on a scale from A, which means the highest score, to E. RTU is the only university in Latvia that has received A level evaluation in 11 indicators, for example, open access publications, graduate students employed, number of spin-offs, external research income, graduating on time (bachelors and masters), foreign language bachelor programmes, graduate companies, international joint publications.
RTU has received the second highest evaluation – B «good» – in seven indicators. In comparison to 2019, RTU results have improved in six indicators.
«U-Multirank» is the biggest multidimensional rating in the world, which is a user-friendly tool that allows any future student to compare higher education institutions in an interactive way according to specific indicators. The rating is based on the information submitted by the university, various international and national databases and survey results. This year it included information about more than 1800 higher education institutions from 92 countries.
20 higher education institutions from Latvia have been included in the rating. This rating is important, because since 2016 the Ministry of Education and Science has included requirement to participate in «U-Multirank» rating in agreements with higher education institutions on allocation of state budget funds.
Additional information about the rating: www.umultirank.org
Riga Technical University (RTU) has been included in the «QS Graduate Employability Ranking 2019», taking the 301–500th place in the university group. RTU received the highest score in Employer Reputation that ranks RTU in 175th place.
The QS Graduate Employability Ranking reflects the position of the graduates of higher education institutions in the labour market and their career after graduation.
In QS Graduate Employability Rankings, universities are ranked on five criteria:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is ranked 1st in QS Graduate Employability rankings this year, followed by Stanford University in the 2nd place, and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the 3rd place.
The ranking shows the best institutions at engaging with employers and it includes the top 500 best universities in world. QS Graduate Employability Rankings was established in 2016.
More information on «QS Graduate Employability Ranking»
Riga Technical University (RTU) has received an excellent evaluation – five stars – at the international university rating QS Stars. Overall, university performance was evaluated considering eight categories, and RTU received the highest evaluation – five stars – in six of them.
Director of RTU Department of Quality Control and Records Management Juris Iljins states, «RTU has been very highly evaluated on QS Stars rating, by improving its performance in all categories in comparison with previous evaluation that was organized in 2015. In the previous evaluation, we received three stars, but with persistent work, we have managed to improve our performance. We have significantly invested in the quality of studies, infrastructure, improvement of research quality, promotion of innovations and improvement of environment for start-up companies. On the whole, these activities have contributed to the fact that RTU has been evaluated on the same level as Lund University in Sweden or Aalborg University in Denmark».
RTU received five stars in the following categories: teaching, employability, internationalization, learning environment, innovations and inclusiveness. The rating also considered university research and specialization in computer sciences.
Each of the eight categories is divided into numerous sub-categories. Within the category of teaching such sub-categories as the level of student satisfaction with the university as a whole and with the studies in particular, as well as further education opportunities were highly evaluated. In the area of employment, graduate employment indicators as well as RTU reputation among employers received top scores. In the category of internationalization, RTU registered maximum points in several sub-categories, including «International Research Collaboration», «International Diversity» and «Inbound Exchange Students».
Considering university environment, sports facilities provided by RTU, IT infrastructure and significant number of student organizations gained special recognition. In the field of innovations, RTU received maximal scores in all sub-categories – number of patents registered by RTU, field research; number of spin-off enterprises were highly evaluated. In the area of Inclusiveness, opportunities ensured by RTU, university scholarships and bursaries, support to the students from low income families as well as accessibility of the environment for people with reduced mobility deserved special credit.
QS Stars is a rating system, which allows students to develop better understanding with regard to the quality of the institution. Unlike most ratings that measure university performance by ranking them into order, QS Stars makes it possible to assess the performance of each university in specific areas and issues by providing, for example, access to graduate employment rates, assessments of learning environment, level of inclusiveness and other issues relevant to the potential graduates. Participation in the rating of universities is voluntary and provides a comparable external evaluation of how successful the university has been.
Riga Technical University (RTU) has been ranked in the 701 to 750 range of QS World University Rankings 2021, which is the highest score among three Latvian universities included in the ranking. RTU received the highest appraisal for its increase of foreign students, and in this indicator RTU improved its position by 66 places, ranking 371st in the global assessment.
«RTU has been evaluated on different rankings and with different assessment methods un has been ranked as the best university in Latvia – this is attested by «U-Multirank» results published on June 9 and by «Times Higher Education Impact» results published in April, in which RTU was ranked among 200 best universities in the world. On «QS Stars» ranking as well, RTU was evaluated with five stars, which ir the highest evaluation. The achievement of RTU on «QS World University Rankings 2021» confirms once more that we are the national leaders. Of course, RTU does not have the success as the University of Tartu, but considering the funding available to us, the results are very good, because our calculations show that as we move towards internationally recognised excellence, among all Latvian universities RTU has the highest return, taking into account budget opportunities,» emphasizes Juris Iljins, Director of Administration.
1002 higher education institutions from 93 countries included in the «QS World University Rankings 2021» ranking were assessed taking into consideration six criteria – Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Citations per Paper, Faculty/Student Ratio, as well as International Faculty and International Students. In four out of six criteria – International Students, Faculty/Student Ratio, Citations per Paper and Academic Reputation – RTU has shown higher results in comparison with the previous year.
The assessment of Academic Reputation and Employer Reputation is based on extensive international surveys. Employers and academicians not only from Latvia but also from other countries expressed their opinion about RTU. The performance of higher education institutions in the remaining four criteria was assessed on the basis of submitted data that was verified according to internationally available information.
Internationalization is one of the most significant priorities of RTU, which has been emphasised in RTU strategy. Targeted activities have resulted in a rapid increase in the number of foreign students in recent years, and currently there are students from 86 countries studying at RTU.
Other universities from Latvia that are included in the ranking are University of Latvia and Rīga Stradiņš University, which both, same as last year, remained in 801–1000 range. As in the previous year, this year Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been ranked first, Stanford University – second, and Harvard University – third in the «QS World University Rankings». The results of the ranking were published on 10 June.
«QS World University Rankings»: www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings
QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia University Ranking
In 2020, Riga Technical University was ranked 54th in QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia (EECA) University Ranking among 350 leading universities.
QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia (EECA) University Ranking is a regional ranking compiled by QS World University Rankings (QS). QS EECA Ranking was first published in 2014. At present, it lists top 350 universities in the region.
QS University Ranking is one of the world most influential university rankings, which provides information on 1000 world-leading universities. The ranking is drawn to give students who are willing to study at world best universities the opportunity to make an informed choice.
QS EECA Ranking universities are assessed taking into consideration nine factors, which ensure a university would be listed in the ranking:
Also from Latvia, the University of Latvia has been included in the ranking in 39th place, Riga Stradins University in 141st place, Latvia University of Agriculture in 174th place, University of Daugavpils ranked in the 231st-240th place and Transport and Telecommunication Institute ranked in the 301st-350th place.
In the prestigious «The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2021», Riga Technical University (RTU) has been recognised as 284th best university in the world in terms of university cooperation with industry. In this aspect, RTU has been on the world’s TOP 300 university list for several years and this ranking has grown every year. The ranking includes the best universities in the world, evaluating their performance in five indicators – collaboration with industry, studies, internationalisation, and science and citation.
University collaboration with industry is evaluated in the ranking by looking at how much income the university has generated from knowledge transfer. It also analyses the contribution of the university to business development through innovation, inventions and expertise, as well as the ability of universities to raise funding from the commercial sector.
RTU collaborates actively with companies; it has more than 100 contracts annually in different sectors developing new technologies and products, conducting research, testing, prototyping, providing consultations, opinions and other knowledge-based services. RTU is participating in various cooperation programmes with entrepreneurs, for example, in collaboration with LMT, an innovation grant «Industrial Doctor» is being offered to students, in which future Doctors develop their PhD Thesis on a specific topic useful for the development of the company and this topic is initiated by the company itself.
In comparison with the previous year, this year the rating of RTU has grown in four of the five rating criteria, in collaboration with industry, studies, science and internationalisation. RTU has retained its place in the 1000+ university group.
The science criterion takes into account the results of a reputation survey, university income from research and its productivity. The internationalization criterion assesses the proportion of foreign students and academic staff as well as international cooperation in research based on the citation indicators of scientific publications. Performance in studies is evaluated by the results of a reputation survey, the ratio of students and academic staff, the proportion of academic staff with a doctoral degree, and other indicators. On the other hand, citation, or the impact of research, reveals the role of universities in creating and disseminating new knowledge and ideas.
«The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021» has been published on September 2 and it lists 1527 world higher education institutions. The University of Oxford takes the first place in the rating, which is followed by Stanford University and Harvard University.
Ranking: www.timeshighereducation.com
Riga Technical University (RTU) has been highly evaluated in one of the leading university rankings – «Times Higher Education (THE) BRICS & Emerging Economies University Rankings 2019», taking 196th place.
Evaluation of RTU in «THE BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) & Emerging Economies University Rankings 2019» is substantial not only for RTU, but also for the whole higher education field in Latvia as the ranking attests university’s international competitiveness. Altogether, 443 universities were ranked this year.
«The fact that RTU is able to be in the TOP 200 of this ranking with a budget incomparable to the budget of many universities in China, South Africa or Brazil is a considerable success. The high quality of RTU education is also acknowledged by the growing number of foreign students, including, for instance, students from India, and RTU has been placed higher than several leading universities in India,» emphasizes the Director of the Quality Management and Record Management Department Juris Iljins.
The ranking evaluates the universities’ performance in five areas of activity and the obtained place is determined by the total sum of the evaluation: studies (study environment) – 30%, research (amount, income and reputation) – 30%, citation (impact of research) – 20%, international perspective (staff, students, research) – 10% and the income of industry (knowledge transfer) – 10%. RTU’s performance has been rated the highest in the fields of internationalisation and knowledge transfer. Ranking’s methodology is made by paying the most attention to the university’s cooperation with the industry and the assessment of international perspective, as these are the indicators that are of special significance in the context of emerging economies.
The ranking’s first place has been taken by Tsingua University (China) followed by Peking University (China), but Zhejiang University (China) placed third. From Latvia, the University of Latvia takes 251st–300th place.
Riga Technical University (RTU) is ranked in 361st place of best universities in Europe. The Europe ranking is based on the data of the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, in which RTU was included for the first time in September 2016. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019 ranks more than 1,250 universities around the world. Just over 450 of them are universities in Europe.
Director of the Quality Management and Record Management Department at RTU Juris Iljins says, «In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, RTU has been ranked equally with the Tallinn University of Technology and Vilnius University, whose funding is several times higher. It can be stated that our performance in student education and science is the same. With additional investments RTU can improve its performance and achieve even the highest position in the international ranking».
In 2019 the ranking includes 35 European countries. The top 10 places consist of universities from the UK, Switzerland and Germany. Oxford University is ranked 1st in the rankings this year, followed by Cambridge University in the 2nd place, and Imperial College London in the 3rd place.
From the Baltic States RTU, University of Latvia, Vilnius University are sharing the 361st place, Tallinn University of Technology – 286th place, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University in 412nd place and the University of Tartu has been placed in the group of universities ranked in 150 place.
More information about the ranking
Evaluating the performance of Riga Technical University (RTU) in the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (CNG) 17, RTU is ranked 101-200 in the highest-ranked group of universities and thus becoming also the most highly rated of the four Latvian universities in the ranking «The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2020».
RTU efforts to achieve the goal of «Climate Action» are highly valued - RTU is recognized as the 14th best in the world in this field. RTU has shared 34th place reaching the goal «Affordable and Clean Energy», shared 45th place in implementing activities of goal «Decent Work and Economic Growth», and 70th place in fulfilling the intentions of goal «Industry Innovations and Infrastructure». In comparison with the previous year when this ranking was or organized for the first time, RTU has improved its results, thus moving from group of higher education institutions ranked 201-300 to group of higher education institutions ranked 101-200.
A year ago, in implementation of 17 SDG goals 450 universities from 76 countries were evaluated in this ranking, but this year 767 universities from 85 countries. University of Auckland is ranked 1st in the rankings this year, followed by University of Sydney in the 2nd place, and Western University of Sydney in the 3rd place, both in Australia.
Sustainable development is one of RTU priorities, which is transformed into a variety of actions, such as the creation of the concept of Green Ķīpsala in 2018, with a strong focus on sustainable, smart and environmentally friendly development. The aim of the university is to raise awareness among students, employees and the public about the need to reduce the ecological footprint and to promote the creation and use of environmentally friendly technologies. Efforts to bring these goals to life are reflected in RTU assessment in «The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2020».
In pursuing sustainable development goals, RTU is engaged and actively participates in major international cooperation organisations, such as Sustainable Development Solutions Network and other.