UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State has been cited as one of the top universities in the world, according to the 2013-14 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The University ranks at 49 worldwide, joining schools from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Switzerland in the top 100. Last year the University came in at 61.
In addition, Penn State ranks in the top 100 in four out of six subject areas: 38 in physical sciences, 50 in social sciences, 56 in engineering and technology and 62 in life sciences.
The rankings, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings website, employ 13 separate performance indicators designed to capture the full range of university activities, from teaching and research to knowledge transfer and international outlook. These 13 elements are brought together into five headline categories, which are:
-- Teaching: the learning environment (worth 30 percent of the overall ranking score);-- Research: volume, income and reputation (worth 30 percent);-- Citations: research influence (worth 30 percent);-- Industry income: innovation (worth 2.5 per cent); and-- International outlook: staff and research (worth 7.5 percent).
All data are collected, analyzed and verified by global data provider Thomson Reuters. This year’s tables employ an identical methodology to the 2011-12 and 2012-13 rankings for clear year-to-year comparisons.
This year's No. 1 spot is held by California Institute of Technology for the third year in a row, with Harvard University at No. 2.
Also joining Penn State in the top 100 schools in North America are eight other schools in the Big Ten Conference: University of Michigan (18), Northwestern University (22), University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (29), University of Wisconsin-Madison (30), University of Minnesota (46), Ohio State University (59), Purdue University (62) and Michigan State University (83).
Visit http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/world-ranking for the full rankings and methodology.