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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
8–17ilBen-Gurion University of the Negev3
8–17seChalmers University of Technology3
8–17usIBM Corporation3
8–17auMonash University3
8–17caQueen’s University3
8–17fiTampere University3
8–17chUniversità della Svizzera italiana3
8–17fiUniversity of Oulu3
8–17gbgb-engUniversity of Oxford3
8–17nlVrije Universiteit Amsterdam3
18–52caConcordia University2
18–52usCornell University2
18–52auCurtin University2
18–52nlEindhoven University of Technology2
18–52usGoogle2
18–52jpKyushu University2
18–52seLund University2
18–52usNorthern Arizona University2
18–52nlOpen University of the Netherlands2
18–52cnPeking University2
18–52usPivotal2
18–52caPolytechnique Montréal2
18–52sgSingapore Management University2
18–52usUC Berkeley2
18–52gbgb-engUniversity College London2
18–52nzUniversity of Auckland2
18–52chUniversity of Bern2
18–52caUniversity of British Columbia2
18–52caUniversity of Calgary2
18–52usUniversity of Chicago2
18–52seUniversity of Gothenburg2
18–52nlUniversity of Groningen2
18–52fiUniversity of Helsinki2
18–52fiUniversity of Jyväskylä2
18–52luUniversity of Luxembourg2
18–52usUniversity of Maryland2
18–52noUniversity of Oslo2
18–52deUniversity of Passau2
18–52itUniversity of Salerno2
18–52gbgb-engUniversity of Sheffield2
18–52usUniversity of Southern California2
18–52caUniversity of Victoria2
18–52usUniversity of Washington2
18–52caYork University2
18–52chZurich University of Applied Sciences2
53–237dkAalborg University1
53–237fiAalto University1
53–237dkAarhus University1
53–237usAllegheny College1
53–237usAugusta University1
53–237nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
53–237cnBaidu, Inc.1
53–237ilBar-Ilan University1
53–237eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
53–237cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
53–237trBilkent University1
53–237seBlekinge Institute of Technology1
53–237usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
53–237gbBritish Geological Survey1
53–237usBroadPath1
53–237usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
53–237usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
53–237seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
53–237usClarkson University1
53–237usClemson University1
53–237krClova AI Research1
53–237itCNR-ISTI1
53–237frCNRS1
53–237seCodeScene1
53–237usColumbia Basin College1
53–237usColumbia University1
53–237noConceptos Consulting1
53–237trCumhuriyet University1
53–237unDon’t Forget the Bubbles1
53–237usDrexel University1
53–237gbgb-engDurham University1
53–237deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
53–237nlExact International Development1
53–237usFacebook1
53–237brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
53–237brFederal University of Amazonas1
53–237brFederal University of Bahia1
53–237brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
53–237brFederal University of Pará1
53–237brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
53–237brFederal University of Sergipe1
53–237atFHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences1
53–237deFraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering1
53–237itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
53–237usGeorge Fox University1
53–237usGeorge Mason University1
53–237usGeorgia Institute of Technologyy1
53–237deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
53–237gbgb-engImperial College London1
53–237frInria1
53–237usIowa State University1
53–237irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
53–237frIRISA1
53–237itItalian National Research Council1
53–237usJane Street Capital1
53–237nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
53–237usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
53–237czJetBrains Research1
53–237nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
53–237usJohns Hopkins University1
53–237krKAIST1
53–237usKansas State University1
53–237usKennesaw State University1
53–237usKent State University1
53–237gbgb-engKing’s College London1
53–237krKorea Press Foundation1
53–237auLady Cilento Children’s Hospital1
53–237xxLeadership Footprint1
53–237deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
53–237gbgb-engLeicester Royal Infirmary1
53–237nlLeiden University1
53–237usLoyola College1
53–237caMcGill University1
53–237esMeta41
53–237deMETOP GmbH1
53–237usMontclair State University1
53–237auMurdoch University1
53–237usNetflix1
53–237fiNokia Bell Labs1
53–237usNortheastern University1
53–237usNorthwestern University1
53–237noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
53–237noNTNU1
53–237usOakland University1
53–237seÖrebro University1
53–237usOregon State University1
53–237noØstfold University College1
53–237deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
53–237dePaderborn University1
53–237dePhilipps University Marburg1
53–237ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
53–237caPolytechnique Montreal1
53–237nlRadboud University1
53–237gbRolls-Royce plc1
53–237deSaarland University1
53–237lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
53–237cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
53–237noSimula Research Laboratory1
53–237noSINTEF1
53–237nlSoftware Improvement Group1
53–237usStanford University1
53–237usStevens Institute1
53–237auSwinburne University of Technology1
53–237chSwisscom1
53–237auSydney Children’s Hospital1
53–237deTechnische Universität München1
53–237esTecnalia1
53–237usTexas A&M University1
53–237usThe College of William and Mary1
53–237cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
53–237nlThe Liberators1
53–237gbgb-engThe Open University1
53–237gbgb-engThe Royal London Hospital1
53–237usThe University of New Mexico1
53–237nlTilburg University1
53–237itU-Hopper1
53–237mxUAM Iztapalapa1
53–237usUC Davis1
53–237saUmm Al-Qura University1
53–237coUniversidad de los Andes1
53–237esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
53–237brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
53–237brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
53–237chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
53–237ieUniversity College Cork1
53–237beUniversity College Ghent1
53–237auUniversity of Adelaide1
53–237usUniversity of Alabama1
53–237caUniversity of Alberta1
53–237nlUniversity of Amsterdam1
53–237chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
53–237usUniversity of Arizona1
53–237usUniversity of Arkansas1
53–237eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
53–237chUniversity of Basel1
53–237brUniversity of Brasília1
53–237usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
53–237gbgb-engUniversity of Cambridge1
53–237esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
53–237esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
53–237gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
53–237dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
53–237deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
53–237gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
53–237itUniversity of Florence1
53–237deUniversity of Freiburg1
53–237usUniversity of Georgia1
53–237deUniversity of Giessen1
53–237usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
53–237usUniversity of Illinois1
53–237gbgb-engUniversity of Leeds1
53–237gbgb-engUniversity of Leicester1
53–237frUniversity of Lorraine1
53–237deUniversity of Magdeburg1
53–237caUniversity of Manitoba1
53–237usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
53–237auUniversity of Melbourne Medical School1
53–237usUniversity of Miami1
53–237itUniversity of Molise1
53–237beUniversity of Mons1
53–237esUniversity of Murcia1
53–237auUniversity of New South Wales1
53–237auUniversity of Newcastle1
53–237usUniversity of Oregon1
53–237deUniversity of Potsdam1
53–237auUniversity of Queensland1
53–237frUniversity of Rennes 11
53–237itUniversity of Sannio1
53–237eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
53–237caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
53–237cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
53–237zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
53–237auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
53–237usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
53–237usVassar College1
53–237fiVincit1
53–237beVrije Universiteit Brussel1
53–237usWayne State University1
53–237usWesleyan University1
53–237noWesterdals ACT1
53–237auWestern Hospital Footscray1
53–237usWestern Michigan University1
53–237usWestern Washington University1
53–237nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
53–237cnWuhan University1

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