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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
20–56caConcordia University2
20–56usCornell University2
20–56auCurtin University2
20–56jpKyushu University2
20–56seLund University2
20–56usNorthern Arizona University2
20–56nlOpen University of the Netherlands2
20–56cnPeking University2
20–56usPivotal2
20–56caPolytechnique Montréal2
20–56sgSingapore Management University2
20–56usStanford University2
20–56usUC Berkeley2
20–56usUC Davis2
20–56gbgb-engUniversity College London2
20–56nlUniversity of Amsterdam2
20–56nzUniversity of Auckland2
20–56caUniversity of British Columbia2
20–56caUniversity of Calgary2
20–56usUniversity of Chicago2
20–56seUniversity of Gothenburg2
20–56nlUniversity of Groningen2
20–56fiUniversity of Helsinki2
20–56usUniversity of Illinois at Chicago2
20–56fiUniversity of Jyväskylä2
20–56luUniversity of Luxembourg2
20–56usUniversity of Maryland2
20–56noUniversity of Oslo2
20–56deUniversity of Passau2
20–56itUniversity of Salerno2
20–56gbgb-engUniversity of Sheffield2
20–56usUniversity of Southern California2
20–56caUniversity of Victoria2
20–56usUniversity of Washington2
20–56nlVrije Universiteit Amsterdam2
20–56caYork University2
20–56chZurich University of Applied Sciences2
57–255dkAalborg University1
57–255fiAalto University1
57–255dkAarhus University1
57–255usAllegheny College1
57–255usArizona State University1
57–255usAugusta University1
57–255nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
57–255cnBaidu, Inc.1
57–255ilBar-Ilan University1
57–255eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
57–255deBauhaus-Universität Weimar1
57–255cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
57–255trBilkent University1
57–255seBlekinge Institute of Technology1
57–255usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
57–255gbBritish Geological Survey1
57–255usBroadPath1
57–255usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
57–255usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
57–255seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
57–255deCISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security1
57–255usClarkson University1
57–255usClemson University1
57–255krClova AI Research1
57–255itCNR-ISTI1
57–255frCNRS1
57–255seCodeScene1
57–255usColumbia Basin College1
57–255usColumbia University1
57–255noConceptos Consulting1
57–255trCumhuriyet University1
57–255unDon’t Forget the Bubbles1
57–255usDrexel University1
57–255gbgb-engDurham University1
57–255deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
57–255nlExact International Development1
57–255usFacebook1
57–255brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
57–255brFederal University of Amazonas1
57–255brFederal University of Bahia1
57–255brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
57–255brFederal University of Pará1
57–255brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
57–255brFederal University of Sergipe1
57–255atFHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences1
57–255deFraunhofer1
57–255usFraunhofer1
57–255itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
57–255usGeorge Fox University1
57–255usGeorge Mason University1
57–255usGeorgia Institute of Technologyy1
57–255deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
57–255gbgb-engImperial College London1
57–255frInria1
57–255idInstitut Teknologi Bandung1
57–255usIowa State University1
57–255irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
57–255frIRISA1
57–255itItalian National Research Council1
57–255usJane Street Capital1
57–255nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
57–255usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
57–255czJetBrains Research1
57–255nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
57–255usJohns Hopkins University1
57–255krKAIST1
57–255usKansas State University1
57–255usKennesaw State University1
57–255usKent State University1
57–255gbgb-engKing’s College London1
57–255krKorea Press Foundation1
57–255seKTH Royal Institute of Technology1
57–255auLady Cilento Children’s Hospital1
57–255xxLeadership Footprint1
57–255deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
57–255gbgb-engLeicester Royal Infirmary1
57–255nlLeiden University1
57–255usLoyola College1
57–255usMassachusetts Institute of Technology1
57–255caMcGill University1
57–255usMeta1
57–255esMeta41
57–255deMETOP GmbH1
57–255usMontclair State University1
57–255auMurdoch University1
57–255usNetflix1
57–255fiNokia Bell Labs1
57–255usNortheastern University1
57–255usNorthwestern University1
57–255noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
57–255noNTNU1
57–255usOakland University1
57–255seÖrebro University1
57–255usOregon State University1
57–255noØstfold University College1
57–255deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
57–255dePaderborn University1
57–255dePhilipps University Marburg1
57–255ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
57–255caPolytechnique Montreal1
57–255nlRadboud University1
57–255gbRolls-Royce plc1
57–255deSaarland University1
57–255usSauce Labs1
57–255lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
57–255cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
57–255noSimula Research Laboratory1
57–255noSINTEF1
57–255nlSoftware Improvement Group1
57–255usStevens Institute1
57–255auSwinburne University of Technology1
57–255chSwisscom1
57–255auSydney Children’s Hospital1
57–255deTechnische Universität München1
57–255esTecnalia1
57–255usTexas A&M University1
57–255usThe College of William and Mary1
57–255cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
57–255nlThe Liberators1
57–255gbgb-engThe Open University1
57–255gbgb-engThe Royal London Hospital1
57–255usThe University of New Mexico1
57–255nlTilburg University1
57–255itU-Hopper1
57–255mxUAM Iztapalapa1
57–255saUmm Al-Qura University1
57–255coUniversidad de los Andes1
57–255esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
57–255brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
57–255brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
57–255chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
57–255esUniversity Carlos III of Madrid1
57–255ieUniversity College Cork1
57–255beUniversity College Ghent1
57–255auUniversity of Adelaide1
57–255usUniversity of Alabama1
57–255caUniversity of Alberta1
57–255chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
57–255usUniversity of Arizona1
57–255usUniversity of Arkansas1
57–255eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
57–255chUniversity of Basel1
57–255itUniversity of Bologna1
57–255brUniversity of Brasília1
57–255usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
57–255usUniversity of California, Santa Cruz1
57–255gbgb-engUniversity of Cambridge1
57–255esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
57–255esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
57–255gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
57–255dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
57–255deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
57–255gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
57–255itUniversity of Florence1
57–255deUniversity of Freiburg1
57–255chUniversity of Geneva1
57–255itUniversity of Genoa1
57–255usUniversity of Georgia1
57–255deUniversity of Giessen1
57–255usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
57–255usUniversity of Illinois1
57–255atUniversity of Klagenfurt1
57–255gbgb-engUniversity of Leeds1
57–255gbgb-engUniversity of Leicester1
57–255frUniversity of Lorraine1
57–255deUniversity of Magdeburg1
57–255caUniversity of Manitoba1
57–255usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
57–255auUniversity of Melbourne Medical School1
57–255usUniversity of Miami1
57–255itUniversity of Milano-Bicocca1
57–255itUniversity of Molise1
57–255beUniversity of Mons1
57–255esUniversity of Murcia1
57–255auUniversity of New South Wales1
57–255auUniversity of Newcastle1
57–255usUniversity of Oregon1
57–255deUniversity of Potsdam1
57–255auUniversity of Queensland1
57–255frUniversity of Rennes 11
57–255itUniversity of Sannio1
57–255eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
57–255caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
57–255cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
57–255zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
57–255auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
57–255usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
57–255usVanderbilt University1
57–255usVassar College1
57–255fiVincit1
57–255beVrije Universiteit Brussel1
57–255usWayne State University1
57–255usWesleyan University1
57–255noWesterdals ACT1
57–255auWestern Hospital Footscray1
57–255usWestern Michigan University1
57–255usWestern Washington University1
57–255nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
57–255cnWuhan University1