Research: the University of Montpellier remains in the top 200 of the Shanghai ranking

Philippe Augé, “heureux” du classement effectué par l'université de Shanghai. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO

The Shanghai ranking ranks universities around the world based on six quantitative criteria, including the number of publications in the most prestigious scientific journals. As in 2023, Montpellier University appears in the top 150-200 institutions, in eighth place nationally.

Université-Montpellier maintains its rank in the latest Shanghai general ranking published this Thursday, which evaluates 1,800 institutions worldwide based on several quantitative criteria. It is in the 150-200th bracket, the same as last year, which therefore places it in the top 200 of this ranking. This ranking places three American universities at the top: Harvard, Harvard, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The first European university is Cambridge in fourth place.

"An ambitious policy"

To establish its hierarchy, the University of Shanghai uses objective criteria such as the number of publications in scientific journals, the number of Nobel Prize winners and Fields Medalists, and the reputation of former students and professors.“These excellent results in the Shanghai ranking, as well as in other international rankings, reflect an ambitious policy of excellence pursued for several years. This success is based on the talent and commitment of our teams of teacher-researchers, female teacher-researchers and researchers, whom I would like to congratulate. These successes are also the result of the exceptional resources allocated to research and training within the framework of the ISITE Excellence program, a project carried out in collaboration with all our partners” reacted Philippe Augé, the president of the UM in a press release published by his services.

Eighth national rank

In 2016, the Université-Montpellier was in the “350-400” bracket and this progression attests that the establishment “has become a major player in higher education, research and innovation in France and internationally” according to its managers. In this ranking, UM is ranked 8th nationally, dominated by the University of Paris-Saclay and three other Parisian campuses. Aix-Marseille, Grenoble, and the Claude-Bernard University of Lyon are the other sites mentioned ahead of Montpellier.

Philippe Augé and his services observe that the Shanghai ranking reinforces the good results obtained in other international rankings, notably The Ranking Impact which aims to measure the performance of universities in terms of sustainable development. “This year it is in the world top 50 for 2 objectives, in line with the major themes of the institution: feeding, caring for, protecting. UM stands out on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) “health and well-being” by occupying 30th place worldwide and 1st place in France. UM is making strong progress on the SDG “life below water” with a 30th place worldwide, and a new 1st place nationally, demonstrating once again the excellence of the UM in terms of ecology” they note.