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Captain’s Blog

The place to be for a PhD

I don’t actually have any plans to apply for a PhD right now, but if I were it would probably be at one of these places.

Blackjack and hookers meme
I’m gonna make my own university ranking, with blackjack and hookers!

Prestige plays a major role in academia. It’s why researchers dream of publishing their work in prestigious journals, like Nature and Science. It’s why you can find Harvard University sweaters all over the world, even though Harvard doesn’t actually have that many students. And it’s why people get all giddy about an opportunity to work or study at Oxford, even though there are plenty of other institutions that may have more to offer.

A decent chunk of a university’s prestige comes from rankings, of which there are many. .

While prestige can afford you certain privileges, it does not play that much of a role in your day-to-day life as a graduate student. Rankings tend to be based on research output and recognition thereof, but you’re likely more concerned about things like quality of education, facilities, student life, affordability, the likelihood that your supervisor will be a Machiavellian psychopath, or the university’s primary topics of research.

Most rankings are therefore kind of useless for students.

I’m going to exacerbate this problem by introducing my own ranking, the Toilet Paper Rankings, which is solely based on the number of summarised papers in which an organisation, which is usually – but not always – a university, is mentioned as an affiliation. The list is updated daily, although it usually only changes once a week, when I publish a new paper summary.

Toilet Paper Rankings

Link
RankCountryOrganisationPoints
1usCarnegie Mellon University9
2–3usMicrosoft8
2–3usNorth Carolina State University8
4–5nlDelft University of Technology5
4–5chUniversity of Zurich5
6–7ilThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem4
6–7deUniversity of Stuttgart4
8–19ilBen-Gurion University of the Negev3
8–19seChalmers University of Technology3
8–19nlEindhoven University of Technology3
8–19usGoogle3
8–19usIBM Corporation3
8–19auMonash University3
8–19caQueen’s University3
8–19fiTampere University3
8–19chUniversità della Svizzera italiana3
8–19chUniversity of Bern3
8–19fiUniversity of Oulu3
8–19gbgb-engUniversity of Oxford3
20–55caConcordia University2
20–55usCornell University2
20–55auCurtin University2
20–55jpKyushu University2
20–55seLund University2
20–55usNorthern Arizona University2
20–55nlOpen University of the Netherlands2
20–55cnPeking University2
20–55usPivotal2
20–55caPolytechnique Montréal2
20–55sgSingapore Management University2
20–55usStanford University2
20–55usUC Berkeley2
20–55usUC Davis2
20–55gbgb-engUniversity College London2
20–55nlUniversity of Amsterdam2
20–55nzUniversity of Auckland2
20–55caUniversity of British Columbia2
20–55caUniversity of Calgary2
20–55usUniversity of Chicago2
20–55seUniversity of Gothenburg2
20–55nlUniversity of Groningen2
20–55fiUniversity of Helsinki2
20–55fiUniversity of Jyväskylä2
20–55luUniversity of Luxembourg2
20–55usUniversity of Maryland2
20–55noUniversity of Oslo2
20–55deUniversity of Passau2
20–55itUniversity of Salerno2
20–55gbgb-engUniversity of Sheffield2
20–55usUniversity of Southern California2
20–55caUniversity of Victoria2
20–55usUniversity of Washington2
20–55nlVrije Universiteit Amsterdam2
20–55caYork University2
20–55chZurich University of Applied Sciences2
56–254dkAalborg University1
56–254fiAalto University1
56–254dkAarhus University1
56–254usAllegheny College1
56–254usAugusta University1
56–254nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
56–254cnBaidu, Inc.1
56–254ilBar-Ilan University1
56–254eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
56–254deBauhaus-Universität Weimar1
56–254cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
56–254trBilkent University1
56–254seBlekinge Institute of Technology1
56–254usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
56–254gbBritish Geological Survey1
56–254usBroadPath1
56–254usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
56–254usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
56–254seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
56–254deCISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security1
56–254usClarkson University1
56–254usClemson University1
56–254krClova AI Research1
56–254itCNR-ISTI1
56–254frCNRS1
56–254seCodeScene1
56–254usColumbia Basin College1
56–254usColumbia University1
56–254noConceptos Consulting1
56–254trCumhuriyet University1
56–254unDon’t Forget the Bubbles1
56–254usDrexel University1
56–254gbgb-engDurham University1
56–254deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
56–254nlExact International Development1
56–254usFacebook1
56–254brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
56–254brFederal University of Amazonas1
56–254brFederal University of Bahia1
56–254brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
56–254brFederal University of Pará1
56–254brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
56–254brFederal University of Sergipe1
56–254atFHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences1
56–254deFraunhofer1
56–254usFraunhofer1
56–254itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
56–254usGeorge Fox University1
56–254usGeorge Mason University1
56–254usGeorgia Institute of Technologyy1
56–254deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
56–254gbgb-engImperial College London1
56–254frInria1
56–254idInstitut Teknologi Bandung1
56–254usIowa State University1
56–254irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
56–254frIRISA1
56–254itItalian National Research Council1
56–254usJane Street Capital1
56–254nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
56–254usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
56–254czJetBrains Research1
56–254nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
56–254usJohns Hopkins University1
56–254krKAIST1
56–254usKansas State University1
56–254usKennesaw State University1
56–254usKent State University1
56–254gbgb-engKing’s College London1
56–254krKorea Press Foundation1
56–254seKTH Royal Institute of Technology1
56–254auLady Cilento Children’s Hospital1
56–254xxLeadership Footprint1
56–254deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
56–254gbgb-engLeicester Royal Infirmary1
56–254nlLeiden University1
56–254usLoyola College1
56–254usMassachusetts Institute of Technology1
56–254caMcGill University1
56–254usMeta1
56–254esMeta41
56–254deMETOP GmbH1
56–254usMontclair State University1
56–254auMurdoch University1
56–254usNetflix1
56–254fiNokia Bell Labs1
56–254usNortheastern University1
56–254usNorthwestern University1
56–254noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
56–254noNTNU1
56–254usOakland University1
56–254seÖrebro University1
56–254usOregon State University1
56–254noØstfold University College1
56–254deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
56–254dePaderborn University1
56–254dePhilipps University Marburg1
56–254ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
56–254caPolytechnique Montreal1
56–254nlRadboud University1
56–254gbRolls-Royce plc1
56–254deSaarland University1
56–254usSauce Labs1
56–254lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
56–254cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
56–254noSimula Research Laboratory1
56–254noSINTEF1
56–254nlSoftware Improvement Group1
56–254usStevens Institute1
56–254auSwinburne University of Technology1
56–254chSwisscom1
56–254auSydney Children’s Hospital1
56–254deTechnische Universität München1
56–254esTecnalia1
56–254usTexas A&M University1
56–254usThe College of William and Mary1
56–254cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
56–254nlThe Liberators1
56–254gbgb-engThe Open University1
56–254gbgb-engThe Royal London Hospital1
56–254usThe University of New Mexico1
56–254nlTilburg University1
56–254itU-Hopper1
56–254mxUAM Iztapalapa1
56–254saUmm Al-Qura University1
56–254coUniversidad de los Andes1
56–254esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
56–254brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
56–254brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
56–254chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
56–254esUniversity Carlos III of Madrid1
56–254ieUniversity College Cork1
56–254beUniversity College Ghent1
56–254auUniversity of Adelaide1
56–254usUniversity of Alabama1
56–254caUniversity of Alberta1
56–254chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
56–254usUniversity of Arizona1
56–254usUniversity of Arkansas1
56–254eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
56–254chUniversity of Basel1
56–254itUniversity of Bologna1
56–254brUniversity of Brasília1
56–254usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
56–254usUniversity of California, Santa Cruz1
56–254gbgb-engUniversity of Cambridge1
56–254esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
56–254esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
56–254gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
56–254dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
56–254deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
56–254gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
56–254itUniversity of Florence1
56–254deUniversity of Freiburg1
56–254chUniversity of Geneva1
56–254itUniversity of Genoa1
56–254usUniversity of Georgia1
56–254deUniversity of Giessen1
56–254usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
56–254usUniversity of Illinois1
56–254usUniversity of Illinois at Chicago1
56–254atUniversity of Klagenfurt1
56–254gbgb-engUniversity of Leeds1
56–254gbgb-engUniversity of Leicester1
56–254frUniversity of Lorraine1
56–254deUniversity of Magdeburg1
56–254caUniversity of Manitoba1
56–254usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
56–254auUniversity of Melbourne Medical School1
56–254usUniversity of Miami1
56–254itUniversity of Milano-Bicocca1
56–254itUniversity of Molise1
56–254beUniversity of Mons1
56–254esUniversity of Murcia1
56–254auUniversity of New South Wales1
56–254auUniversity of Newcastle1
56–254usUniversity of Oregon1
56–254deUniversity of Potsdam1
56–254auUniversity of Queensland1
56–254frUniversity of Rennes 11
56–254itUniversity of Sannio1
56–254eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
56–254caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
56–254cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
56–254zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
56–254auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
56–254usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
56–254usVanderbilt University1
56–254usVassar College1
56–254fiVincit1
56–254beVrije Universiteit Brussel1
56–254usWayne State University1
56–254usWesleyan University1
56–254noWesterdals ACT1
56–254auWestern Hospital Footscray1
56–254usWestern Michigan University1
56–254usWestern Washington University1
56–254nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
56–254cnWuhan University1