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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
8–21ilBen-Gurion University of the Negev3
8–21seChalmers University of Technology3
8–21nlEindhoven University of Technology3
8–21usGoogle3
8–21usIBM Corporation3
8–21auMonash University3
8–21caQueen’s University3
8–21usStanford University3
8–21fiTampere University3
8–21chUniversità della Svizzera italiana3
8–21chUniversity of Bern3
8–21fiUniversity of Helsinki3
8–21fiUniversity of Oulu3
8–21gbgb-engUniversity of Oxford3
22–57caConcordia University2
22–57usCornell University2
22–57auCurtin University2
22–57jpKyushu University2
22–57seLund University2
22–57usNorthern Arizona University2
22–57nlOpen University of the Netherlands2
22–57cnPeking University2
22–57usPivotal2
22–57caPolytechnique Montréal2
22–57sgSingapore Management University2
22–57usStevens Institute of Technology2
22–57usUC Berkeley2
22–57usUC Davis2
22–57gbgb-engUniversity College London2
22–57nlUniversity of Amsterdam2
22–57nzUniversity of Auckland2
22–57caUniversity of British Columbia2
22–57caUniversity of Calgary2
22–57usUniversity of Chicago2
22–57seUniversity of Gothenburg2
22–57nlUniversity of Groningen2
22–57usUniversity of Illinois at Chicago2
22–57fiUniversity of Jyväskylä2
22–57luUniversity of Luxembourg2
22–57usUniversity of Maryland2
22–57noUniversity of Oslo2
22–57deUniversity of Passau2
22–57itUniversity of Salerno2
22–57gbgb-engUniversity of Sheffield2
22–57usUniversity of Southern California2
22–57caUniversity of Victoria2
22–57usUniversity of Washington2
22–57nlVrije Universiteit Amsterdam2
22–57caYork University2
22–57chZurich University of Applied Sciences2
58–257dkAalborg University1
58–257fiAalto University1
58–257dkAarhus University1
58–257usAllegheny College1
58–257usArizona State University1
58–257usAugusta University1
58–257nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
58–257cnBaidu, Inc.1
58–257ilBar-Ilan University1
58–257eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
58–257deBauhaus-Universität Weimar1
58–257cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
58–257trBilkent University1
58–257seBlekinge Institute of Technology1
58–257usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
58–257gbBritish Geological Survey1
58–257usBroadPath1
58–257usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
58–257usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
58–257seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
58–257deCISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security1
58–257usClarkson University1
58–257usClemson University1
58–257krClova AI Research1
58–257itCNR-ISTI1
58–257frCNRS1
58–257seCodeScene1
58–257usColumbia Basin College1
58–257usColumbia University1
58–257noConceptos Consulting1
58–257trCumhuriyet University1
58–257unDon’t Forget the Bubbles1
58–257usDrexel University1
58–257gbgb-engDurham University1
58–257deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
58–257nlExact International Development1
58–257usFacebook1
58–257brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
58–257brFederal University of Amazonas1
58–257brFederal University of Bahia1
58–257brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
58–257brFederal University of Pará1
58–257brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
58–257brFederal University of Sergipe1
58–257atFHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences1
58–257deFraunhofer1
58–257usFraunhofer1
58–257itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
58–257usGeorge Fox University1
58–257usGeorge Mason University1
58–257usGeorgia Institute of Technologyy1
58–257deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
58–257gbgb-engImperial College London1
58–257frInria1
58–257idInstitut Teknologi Bandung1
58–257gbgb-engIntruder Systems1
58–257usIowa State University1
58–257irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
58–257frIRISA1
58–257itItalian National Research Council1
58–257usJane Street Capital1
58–257nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
58–257usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
58–257czJetBrains Research1
58–257nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
58–257usJohns Hopkins University1
58–257krKAIST1
58–257usKansas State University1
58–257usKennesaw State University1
58–257usKent State University1
58–257gbgb-engKing’s College London1
58–257krKorea Press Foundation1
58–257seKTH Royal Institute of Technology1
58–257auLady Cilento Children’s Hospital1
58–257xxLeadership Footprint1
58–257deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
58–257gbgb-engLeicester Royal Infirmary1
58–257nlLeiden University1
58–257usLoyola College1
58–257usMassachusetts Institute of Technology1
58–257caMcGill University1
58–257usMeta1
58–257esMeta41
58–257deMETOP GmbH1
58–257usMontclair State University1
58–257auMurdoch University1
58–257usNetflix1
58–257fiNokia Bell Labs1
58–257usNortheastern University1
58–257usNorthwestern University1
58–257noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
58–257noNTNU1
58–257usOakland University1
58–257seÖrebro University1
58–257usOregon State University1
58–257noØstfold University College1
58–257deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
58–257dePaderborn University1
58–257dePhilipps University Marburg1
58–257ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
58–257caPolytechnique Montreal1
58–257nlRadboud University1
58–257usRochester Institute of Technology1
58–257gbRolls-Royce plc1
58–257deSaarland University1
58–257usSauce Labs1
58–257lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
58–257cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
58–257noSimula Research Laboratory1
58–257noSINTEF1
58–257nlSoftware Improvement Group1
58–257auSwinburne University of Technology1
58–257chSwisscom1
58–257auSydney Children’s Hospital1
58–257deTechnische Universität München1
58–257esTecnalia1
58–257usTexas A&M University1
58–257usThe College of William and Mary1
58–257cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
58–257nlThe Liberators1
58–257gbgb-engThe Open University1
58–257gbgb-engThe Royal London Hospital1
58–257usThe University of New Mexico1
58–257nlTilburg University1
58–257itU-Hopper1
58–257mxUAM Iztapalapa1
58–257saUmm Al-Qura University1
58–257coUniversidad de los Andes1
58–257esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
58–257brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
58–257brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
58–257chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
58–257esUniversity Carlos III of Madrid1
58–257ieUniversity College Cork1
58–257beUniversity College Ghent1
58–257auUniversity of Adelaide1
58–257usUniversity of Alabama1
58–257caUniversity of Alberta1
58–257chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
58–257usUniversity of Arizona1
58–257usUniversity of Arkansas1
58–257eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
58–257chUniversity of Basel1
58–257itUniversity of Bologna1
58–257brUniversity of Brasília1
58–257usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
58–257usUniversity of California, Santa Cruz1
58–257gbgb-engUniversity of Cambridge1
58–257esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
58–257esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
58–257gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
58–257dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
58–257deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
58–257gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
58–257itUniversity of Florence1
58–257deUniversity of Freiburg1
58–257chUniversity of Geneva1
58–257itUniversity of Genoa1
58–257usUniversity of Georgia1
58–257deUniversity of Giessen1
58–257usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
58–257usUniversity of Illinois1
58–257atUniversity of Klagenfurt1
58–257gbgb-engUniversity of Leeds1
58–257gbgb-engUniversity of Leicester1
58–257frUniversity of Lorraine1
58–257deUniversity of Magdeburg1
58–257caUniversity of Manitoba1
58–257usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
58–257auUniversity of Melbourne Medical School1
58–257usUniversity of Miami1
58–257itUniversity of Milano-Bicocca1
58–257itUniversity of Molise1
58–257beUniversity of Mons1
58–257esUniversity of Murcia1
58–257auUniversity of New South Wales1
58–257auUniversity of Newcastle1
58–257usUniversity of Oregon1
58–257deUniversity of Potsdam1
58–257auUniversity of Queensland1
58–257frUniversity of Rennes 11
58–257itUniversity of Sannio1
58–257eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
58–257caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
58–257cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
58–257zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
58–257auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
58–257usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
58–257usVanderbilt University1
58–257usVassar College1
58–257fiVincit1
58–257beVrije Universiteit Brussel1
58–257usWayne State University1
58–257usWesleyan University1
58–257noWesterdals ACT1
58–257auWestern Hospital Footscray1
58–257usWestern Michigan University1
58–257usWestern Washington University1
58–257nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
58–257cnWuhan University1