QS Rankings, USI among the top ten European universities for internationality and research quality

According to the first QS World University Rankings Europe 2024, Università della Svizzera italiana is ranked 229th out of 690 European universities. The university has performed exceptionally well in the categories of internationalisation and research impact. Particularly noteworthy is that USI is ranked 9th in Europe and 3rd in Switzerland, just behind the two Federal Institutes of Technology, in terms of citations of academic work.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds, one of the leading companies active in university evaluations and academic rankings, has published the first edition of the QS World University Rankings: Europe, focusing on universities in the Council of Europe member states. The method is the same as the QS World University Rankings, evaluating universities by global recognition, research capacity, teaching resources, internationalisation and employment results.

The ranking lists 690 institutions in 25 countries, including 106 universities that QS had not yet ranked. In first place is the University of Oxford, followed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) in second place and the University of Cambridge in third; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) is ninth.

Università della Svizzera italiana is ranked 229th in the overall ranking, placing it in the top 35% of universities worldwide. Specifically, USI is ranked 9th in Europe and 3rd in Switzerland, after EPFL and ETH, based on the number of citations per published article. This places USI ahead of institutions like the University of Oxford and University College London. The number of citations per article is a recognised measure of an institution's research quality and impact. The more an institution's research is cited in academic works, the more highly regarded it is considered.

USI has achieved positive indicators in terms of internationality and mobility. In Europe, it ranks 4th in academic staff internationality and 40th in student internationality, placing it 2nd and 3rd respectively among Swiss universities. Additionally, USI has been placed in the top 25% with regard to student mobility. These results are consistent with a study done by the Swiss agency Movetia.

"This is an important result for our university because it confirms our vocation as a strongly international university dedicated to research," commented Rector Luisa Lambertini. "USI is a small and young university: we do not yet have the academic reputation and reputation with international employers that other universities have; this penalises us in the overall ranking but at the same time spurs us on to work to make our activities known and to continue to be committed to high-level education and research".

The full results of the World University Rankings: Europe 2024 can be found on the QS website.

About rankings

University rankings are created through standardised data collection procedures that measure various indicators to compare the quality and performance of various universities. These rankings are compiled annually through the analysis of a large amount of data. The indicators used in these rankings include bibliometric data (citations and references in scientific publications), the impact of universities' research, the quality of teaching, and their international outlook. The results of these rankings may vary due to differences in the indicators used and their relative weighting in the ranking calculation.

Although Università della Svizzera italiana has achieved significant rankings in recent years, especially in relation to its age and size, the results should be viewed with caution, as they only represent one of many indicators of a university's quality.