SHANGHAI 2021 RANKING: FRANCE CONSOLIDATES ITS POSITION

Since 2003, the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is an annual ranking of the world's main academic institutions, established by a team of experts from Shanghai Jiao-tong University. Of the 2,000 institutions whose scientific results have been scrutinized, only 1,000 institutions appear in this ranking which usually favors Anglo-Saxon institutions, particularly American ones. According to the French minister in charge of higher education, who spoke on the publication of these results, "The excellence of French universities and the strength of their links with national research organizations allow France to maintain its 3rd place in the world behind the United States and the United Kingdom ".

Paris-Saclay University confirms its global rank

For France, it is the University of Paris-Saclay, which had achieved a remarkable performance last year, which tops the French institutions. In 2020, Paris-Saclay was indeed the first French university to directly integrate the first 15 places in the ranking of the best world establishments. This year, the University of Paris-Saclay is even climbing a rung by moving to 13th place in the world and 3rd in Europe.

Paris-Saclay is not the only one to appear in the Top 50 since it is accompanied by two other French establishments . Y included indeed Sorbonne University , which won four seats to be placed in 35th position and the PSL University (Paris Science & Letters) that ranks for its part in 38th position.

17 French establishments in the Top 500

A little further in the ranking , we find the University of Paris which comes to take 73rd place, completing the French ranking for the Top 100 which includes in all four establishments.

Beyond that, in the Top 500 , between 101st and 300th place, are seven universities located in the region , such as the University of Aix-Marseille, the University of Grenoble-Alpes, the University of Strasbourg, the University of Montpellier, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, the University of Bordeaux or the University of Lorraine.

From rank 300 and up to 500th place, there are six other establishments: the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, the University Paul Sabatier - Toulouse 3, the University of Toulouse 1, the 'Université Côte d'Azur and Université de Lille. Finally, between 301st and 1000th place, 13 other French universities also stand out. In total, therefore, 30 French establishments are included this year in the Shanghai 2021 ranking.

A methodology that favors research

To achieve this globally recognized ranking, experts from Shanghai Jiao-t ong University have adopted a methodology that favors mainly quantitative research criteria and much less qualitative criteria of a more academic nature. The number of Nobel Prizes and Fields medals are thus widely taken into account, as are the number of researchers cited in their fields and the number of publications in specialized journals.