Jacobs University receives top grades in U-Multirank

,  April 6, 2016 Jacobs University receives an impressive testament to its work: the university scored very well in several fields in the U-Multirank international university ranking. The independent, EU-funded U-Multirank measures the performance of the entire university, but also compares individual subjects. This year’s evaluation of the private university in Bremen covers the fields of biology, chemistry and mathematics. Overall, the ranking covers over 1,200 institutions of higher learning from 80 countries.  But U-Multirank doesn’t choose the best university and doesn’t conduct its rankings as a “list of the best.” Instead, it compares universities in various fields of performance, such as studies and teaching, research, transfer of knowledge, international orientation and community involvement. Jacobs University received top ratings in several of these categories at once, such as studies and teaching for its very low number of dropouts – 84.4 percent of Bachelors students successfully complete their course of studies. The evaluators awarded a rating of “very good” for the category of research for reasons including the scientists’ high citation rate – an indicator of the relevance of their research work. The international orientation of the English-language university has received top ratings on multiple occasions – in terms of teaching and research as well as its employees. Nearly every second research assistant at Jacobs University hails from an international background. The individual subjects also received positive ratings. For instance, students in biology gave the highest grade for the quality of content in the courses and teaching, organization of the curriculum, close contact to university instructors and the learning environment as a whole. “We are delighted about these great results,” says Dr. Susanne Illenberger, biochemistry and cell biology instructor and coordinator of the “Biochemistry and Cell Biology” course curriculum. “We are also particularly proud that our students don’t just complete their studies within the intended timeframe, they usually continue their carriers at excellent universities and institutions worldwide.” Students in the field of chemistry praised the international orientation of their courses of studies and the close staff-student relationship. “We are closely involved with our students, says Dr. Werner Nau, chemistry professor and dean of Jacobs University. “From the laboratory and lecture hall to the cafeteria: contact is tight-knit and often extends beyond discussion of academic topics.” The mathematicians also proved to be quite satisfied with the results of their evaluation. In addition to their high marks in the structure and performance of their studies, they also excelled at research. Feedback from students makes up one of the sources for U-Multirank. Other data comes from the universities themselves and from international bibliometric and patent databases. The ranking was conducted by an international consortium made up of the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) in the Netherlands and the CHE Center for University Development, among others. It is based on methods which take both the diversity of the universities and their profiles in various performance dimensions into account.  Further information can be found at: www.umultirank.org Contact: Kristina Logemann | Brand Management, Marketing & Communicationsk.logemann [at] jacobs-university.de | Tel.: +49 421 200- 4454