<p>Very questionable value of this ranking … </p>
<p>I understand that some people want to rank universities, and thus there has to be a method to ‘measure’ them, but you always have to keep in mind that each method has its shortcomings. </p>
<p>I had to laugh when I saw this list. I went to the ETH Zürich in Switzerland, and I’ve visited MANY colleges here in the US; I have alumnis of many different colleges reporting to me and my son is at Georgia Tech. I believe I can judge somewhat objectively. </p>
<p>This ranking is based on articles that were published; the funding system in the US almost ‘requires’ professors to publish their results quickly, sometimes/often even with ‘preliminary communications’. This system is NOT the same all over the world. At the ETH Zürich, for example, my professor had grants from the National Research Foundation and did not have any pressure to publish … and so did all other professors at the ETH! </p>
<p>Consequence? Where his peers would publish 3 or 4 papers, my professor would publish 1, possibly 2. As a result, the ETH Zürich (and all other universities without a ‘publish or perish -mentality’) ar ranked significantly below their true value.</p>