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Captain’s Blog

The place to be for a PhD

Updated

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
56–253dkAalborg University1
56–253fiAalto University1
56–253dkAarhus University1
56–253usAllegheny College1
56–253usAugusta University1
56–253nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
56–253cnBaidu, Inc.1
56–253ilBar-Ilan University1
56–253eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
56–253deBauhaus-Universität Weimar1
56–253cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
56–253trBilkent University1
56–253seBlekinge Institute of Technology1
56–253usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
56–253gbBritish Geological Survey1
56–253usBroadPath1
56–253usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
56–253usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
56–253seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
56–253deCISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security1
56–253usClarkson University1
56–253usClemson University1
56–253krClova AI Research1
56–253itCNR-ISTI1
56–253frCNRS1
56–253seCodeScene1
56–253usColumbia Basin College1
56–253usColumbia University1
56–253noConceptos Consulting1
56–253trCumhuriyet University1
56–253unDon’t Forget the Bubbles1
56–253usDrexel University1
56–253gbgb-engDurham University1
56–253deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
56–253nlExact International Development1
56–253usFacebook1
56–253brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
56–253brFederal University of Amazonas1
56–253brFederal University of Bahia1
56–253brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
56–253brFederal University of Pará1
56–253brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
56–253brFederal University of Sergipe1
56–253atFHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences1
56–253deFraunhofer1
56–253usFraunhofer1
56–253itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
56–253usGeorge Fox University1
56–253usGeorge Mason University1
56–253usGeorgia Institute of Technologyy1
56–253deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
56–253gbgb-engImperial College London1
56–253frInria1
56–253idInstitut Teknologi Bandung1
56–253usIowa State University1
56–253irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
56–253frIRISA1
56–253itItalian National Research Council1
56–253usJane Street Capital1
56–253nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
56–253usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
56–253czJetBrains Research1
56–253nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
56–253usJohns Hopkins University1
56–253krKAIST1
56–253usKansas State University1
56–253usKennesaw State University1
56–253usKent State University1
56–253gbgb-engKing’s College London1
56–253krKorea Press Foundation1
56–253seKTH Royal Institute of Technology1
56–253auLady Cilento Children’s Hospital1
56–253xxLeadership Footprint1
56–253deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
56–253gbgb-engLeicester Royal Infirmary1
56–253nlLeiden University1
56–253usLoyola College1
56–253usMassachusetts Institute of Technology1
56–253caMcGill University1
56–253usMeta1
56–253esMeta41
56–253deMETOP GmbH1
56–253usMontclair State University1
56–253auMurdoch University1
56–253usNetflix1
56–253fiNokia Bell Labs1
56–253usNortheastern University1
56–253usNorthwestern University1
56–253noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
56–253noNTNU1
56–253usOakland University1
56–253seÖrebro University1
56–253usOregon State University1
56–253noØstfold University College1
56–253deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
56–253dePaderborn University1
56–253dePhilipps University Marburg1
56–253ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
56–253caPolytechnique Montreal1
56–253nlRadboud University1
56–253gbRolls-Royce plc1
56–253deSaarland University1
56–253usSauce Labs1
56–253lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
56–253cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
56–253noSimula Research Laboratory1
56–253noSINTEF1
56–253nlSoftware Improvement Group1
56–253usStevens Institute1
56–253auSwinburne University of Technology1
56–253chSwisscom1
56–253auSydney Children’s Hospital1
56–253deTechnische Universität München1
56–253esTecnalia1
56–253usTexas A&M University1
56–253usThe College of William and Mary1
56–253cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
56–253nlThe Liberators1
56–253gbgb-engThe Open University1
56–253gbgb-engThe Royal London Hospital1
56–253usThe University of New Mexico1
56–253nlTilburg University1
56–253itU-Hopper1
56–253mxUAM Iztapalapa1
56–253saUmm Al-Qura University1
56–253coUniversidad de los Andes1
56–253esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
56–253brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
56–253brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
56–253chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
56–253esUniversity Carlos III of Madrid1
56–253ieUniversity College Cork1
56–253beUniversity College Ghent1
56–253auUniversity of Adelaide1
56–253usUniversity of Alabama1
56–253caUniversity of Alberta1
56–253chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
56–253usUniversity of Arizona1
56–253usUniversity of Arkansas1
56–253eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
56–253chUniversity of Basel1
56–253itUniversity of Bologna1
56–253brUniversity of Brasília1
56–253usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
56–253usUniversity of California, Santa Cruz1
56–253gbgb-engUniversity of Cambridge1
56–253esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
56–253esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
56–253gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
56–253dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
56–253deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
56–253gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
56–253itUniversity of Florence1
56–253deUniversity of Freiburg1
56–253chUniversity of Geneva1
56–253itUniversity of Genoa1
56–253usUniversity of Georgia1
56–253deUniversity of Giessen1
56–253usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
56–253usUniversity of Illinois1
56–253atUniversity of Klagenfurt1
56–253gbgb-engUniversity of Leeds1
56–253gbgb-engUniversity of Leicester1
56–253frUniversity of Lorraine1
56–253deUniversity of Magdeburg1
56–253caUniversity of Manitoba1
56–253usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
56–253auUniversity of Melbourne Medical School1
56–253usUniversity of Miami1
56–253itUniversity of Milano-Bicocca1
56–253itUniversity of Molise1
56–253beUniversity of Mons1
56–253esUniversity of Murcia1
56–253auUniversity of New South Wales1
56–253auUniversity of Newcastle1
56–253usUniversity of Oregon1
56–253deUniversity of Potsdam1
56–253auUniversity of Queensland1
56–253frUniversity of Rennes 11
56–253itUniversity of Sannio1
56–253eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
56–253caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
56–253cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
56–253zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
56–253auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
56–253usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
56–253usVanderbilt University1
56–253usVassar College1
56–253fiVincit1
56–253beVrije Universiteit Brussel1
56–253usWayne State University1
56–253usWesleyan University1
56–253noWesterdals ACT1
56–253auWestern Hospital Footscray1
56–253usWestern Michigan University1
56–253usWestern Washington University1
56–253nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
56–253cnWuhan University1

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