Chuniversiteit logomarkChuniversiteit.nl
Captain’s Blog

The place to be for a PhD

Updated

I’m won’t be applying for a PhD any time soon, but if I were, my shortlonglist would probably look a bit like this.

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
1–2usCarnegie Mellon University8
1–2usMicrosoft8
3usNorth Carolina State University7
4–7nlDelft University of Technology4
4–7ilThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem4
4–7deUniversity of Stuttgart4
4–7chUniversity of Zurich4
8–16ilBen-Gurion University of the Negev3
8–16seChalmers University of Technology3
8–16usIBM Corporation3
8–16auMonash University3
8–16caQueen’s University3
8–16fiTampere University3
8–16chUniversità della Svizzera italiana3
8–16fiUniversity of Oulu3
8–16gbgb-engUniversity of Oxford3
17–52caConcordia University2
17–52usCornell University2
17–52auCurtin University2
17–52nlEindhoven University of Technology2
17–52usGoogle2
17–52jpKyushu University2
17–52seLund University2
17–52usNorthern Arizona University2
17–52nlOpen University of the Netherlands2
17–52cnPeking University2
17–52usPivotal2
17–52caPolytechnique Montréal2
17–52sgSingapore Management University2
17–52usUC Berkeley2
17–52gbgb-engUniversity College London2
17–52nzUniversity of Auckland2
17–52chUniversity of Bern2
17–52caUniversity of British Columbia2
17–52caUniversity of Calgary2
17–52usUniversity of Chicago2
17–52seUniversity of Gothenburg2
17–52nlUniversity of Groningen2
17–52fiUniversity of Helsinki2
17–52fiUniversity of Jyväskylä2
17–52luUniversity of Luxembourg2
17–52usUniversity of Maryland2
17–52noUniversity of Oslo2
17–52deUniversity of Passau2
17–52itUniversity of Salerno2
17–52gbgb-engUniversity of Sheffield2
17–52usUniversity of Southern California2
17–52caUniversity of Victoria2
17–52usUniversity of Washington2
17–52nlVrije Universiteit Amsterdam2
17–52caYork University2
17–52chZurich University of Applied Sciences2
53–242dkAalborg University1
53–242fiAalto University1
53–242dkAarhus University1
53–242usAllegheny College1
53–242usAugusta University1
53–242nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
53–242cnBaidu, Inc.1
53–242ilBar-Ilan University1
53–242eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
53–242deBauhaus-Universität Weimar1
53–242cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
53–242trBilkent University1
53–242seBlekinge Institute of Technology1
53–242usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
53–242gbBritish Geological Survey1
53–242usBroadPath1
53–242usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
53–242usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
53–242seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
53–242usClarkson University1
53–242usClemson University1
53–242krClova AI Research1
53–242itCNR-ISTI1
53–242frCNRS1
53–242seCodeScene1
53–242usColumbia Basin College1
53–242usColumbia University1
53–242noConceptos Consulting1
53–242trCumhuriyet University1
53–242unDon’t Forget the Bubbles1
53–242usDrexel University1
53–242gbgb-engDurham University1
53–242deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
53–242nlExact International Development1
53–242usFacebook1
53–242brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
53–242brFederal University of Amazonas1
53–242brFederal University of Bahia1
53–242brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
53–242brFederal University of Pará1
53–242brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
53–242brFederal University of Sergipe1
53–242atFHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences1
53–242deFraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering1
53–242itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
53–242usGeorge Fox University1
53–242usGeorge Mason University1
53–242usGeorgia Institute of Technologyy1
53–242deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
53–242gbgb-engImperial College London1
53–242frInria1
53–242usIowa State University1
53–242irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
53–242frIRISA1
53–242itItalian National Research Council1
53–242usJane Street Capital1
53–242nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
53–242usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
53–242czJetBrains Research1
53–242nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
53–242usJohns Hopkins University1
53–242krKAIST1
53–242usKansas State University1
53–242usKennesaw State University1
53–242usKent State University1
53–242gbgb-engKing’s College London1
53–242krKorea Press Foundation1
53–242auLady Cilento Children’s Hospital1
53–242xxLeadership Footprint1
53–242deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
53–242gbgb-engLeicester Royal Infirmary1
53–242nlLeiden University1
53–242usLoyola College1
53–242caMcGill University1
53–242esMeta41
53–242deMETOP GmbH1
53–242usMontclair State University1
53–242auMurdoch University1
53–242usNetflix1
53–242fiNokia Bell Labs1
53–242usNortheastern University1
53–242usNorthwestern University1
53–242noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
53–242noNTNU1
53–242usOakland University1
53–242seÖrebro University1
53–242usOregon State University1
53–242noØstfold University College1
53–242deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
53–242dePaderborn University1
53–242dePhilipps University Marburg1
53–242ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
53–242caPolytechnique Montreal1
53–242nlRadboud University1
53–242gbRolls-Royce plc1
53–242deSaarland University1
53–242usSauce Labs1
53–242lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
53–242cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
53–242noSimula Research Laboratory1
53–242noSINTEF1
53–242nlSoftware Improvement Group1
53–242usStanford University1
53–242usStevens Institute1
53–242auSwinburne University of Technology1
53–242chSwisscom1
53–242auSydney Children’s Hospital1
53–242deTechnische Universität München1
53–242esTecnalia1
53–242usTexas A&M University1
53–242usThe College of William and Mary1
53–242cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
53–242nlThe Liberators1
53–242gbgb-engThe Open University1
53–242gbgb-engThe Royal London Hospital1
53–242usThe University of New Mexico1
53–242nlTilburg University1
53–242itU-Hopper1
53–242mxUAM Iztapalapa1
53–242usUC Davis1
53–242saUmm Al-Qura University1
53–242coUniversidad de los Andes1
53–242esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
53–242brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
53–242brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
53–242chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
53–242esUniversity Carlos III of Madrid1
53–242ieUniversity College Cork1
53–242beUniversity College Ghent1
53–242auUniversity of Adelaide1
53–242usUniversity of Alabama1
53–242caUniversity of Alberta1
53–242nlUniversity of Amsterdam1
53–242chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
53–242usUniversity of Arizona1
53–242usUniversity of Arkansas1
53–242eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
53–242chUniversity of Basel1
53–242brUniversity of Brasília1
53–242usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
53–242usUniversity of California, Santa Cruz1
53–242gbgb-engUniversity of Cambridge1
53–242esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
53–242esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
53–242gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
53–242dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
53–242deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
53–242gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
53–242itUniversity of Florence1
53–242deUniversity of Freiburg1
53–242itUniversity of Genoa1
53–242usUniversity of Georgia1
53–242deUniversity of Giessen1
53–242usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
53–242usUniversity of Illinois1
53–242gbgb-engUniversity of Leeds1
53–242gbgb-engUniversity of Leicester1
53–242frUniversity of Lorraine1
53–242deUniversity of Magdeburg1
53–242caUniversity of Manitoba1
53–242usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
53–242auUniversity of Melbourne Medical School1
53–242usUniversity of Miami1
53–242itUniversity of Molise1
53–242beUniversity of Mons1
53–242esUniversity of Murcia1
53–242auUniversity of New South Wales1
53–242auUniversity of Newcastle1
53–242usUniversity of Oregon1
53–242deUniversity of Potsdam1
53–242auUniversity of Queensland1
53–242frUniversity of Rennes 11
53–242itUniversity of Sannio1
53–242eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
53–242caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
53–242cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
53–242zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
53–242auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
53–242usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
53–242usVassar College1
53–242fiVincit1
53–242beVrije Universiteit Brussel1
53–242usWayne State University1
53–242usWesleyan University1
53–242noWesterdals ACT1
53–242auWestern Hospital Footscray1
53–242usWestern Michigan University1
53–242usWestern Washington University1
53–242nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
53–242cnWuhan University1

Also on Chuniversiteit