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
53–241dkAalborg University1
53–241fiAalto University1
53–241dkAarhus University1
53–241usAllegheny College1
53–241usAugusta University1
53–241nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
53–241cnBaidu, Inc.1
53–241ilBar-Ilan University1
53–241eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
53–241cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
53–241trBilkent University1
53–241seBlekinge Institute of Technology1
53–241usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
53–241gbBritish Geological Survey1
53–241usBroadPath1
53–241usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
53–241usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
53–241seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
53–241usClarkson University1
53–241usClemson University1
53–241krClova AI Research1
53–241itCNR-ISTI1
53–241frCNRS1
53–241seCodeScene1
53–241usColumbia Basin College1
53–241usColumbia University1
53–241noConceptos Consulting1
53–241trCumhuriyet University1
53–241unDon’t Forget the Bubbles1
53–241usDrexel University1
53–241gbgb-engDurham University1
53–241deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
53–241nlExact International Development1
53–241usFacebook1
53–241brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
53–241brFederal University of Amazonas1
53–241brFederal University of Bahia1
53–241brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
53–241brFederal University of Pará1
53–241brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
53–241brFederal University of Sergipe1
53–241atFHV Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences1
53–241deFraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering1
53–241itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
53–241usGeorge Fox University1
53–241usGeorge Mason University1
53–241usGeorgia Institute of Technologyy1
53–241deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
53–241gbgb-engImperial College London1
53–241frInria1
53–241usIowa State University1
53–241irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
53–241frIRISA1
53–241itItalian National Research Council1
53–241usJane Street Capital1
53–241nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
53–241usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
53–241czJetBrains Research1
53–241nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
53–241usJohns Hopkins University1
53–241krKAIST1
53–241usKansas State University1
53–241usKennesaw State University1
53–241usKent State University1
53–241gbgb-engKing’s College London1
53–241krKorea Press Foundation1
53–241auLady Cilento Children’s Hospital1
53–241xxLeadership Footprint1
53–241deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
53–241gbgb-engLeicester Royal Infirmary1
53–241nlLeiden University1
53–241usLoyola College1
53–241caMcGill University1
53–241esMeta41
53–241deMETOP GmbH1
53–241usMontclair State University1
53–241auMurdoch University1
53–241usNetflix1
53–241fiNokia Bell Labs1
53–241usNortheastern University1
53–241usNorthwestern University1
53–241noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
53–241noNTNU1
53–241usOakland University1
53–241seÖrebro University1
53–241usOregon State University1
53–241noØstfold University College1
53–241deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
53–241dePaderborn University1
53–241dePhilipps University Marburg1
53–241ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
53–241caPolytechnique Montreal1
53–241nlRadboud University1
53–241gbRolls-Royce plc1
53–241deSaarland University1
53–241usSauce Labs1
53–241lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
53–241cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
53–241noSimula Research Laboratory1
53–241noSINTEF1
53–241nlSoftware Improvement Group1
53–241usStanford University1
53–241usStevens Institute1
53–241auSwinburne University of Technology1
53–241chSwisscom1
53–241auSydney Children’s Hospital1
53–241deTechnische Universität München1
53–241esTecnalia1
53–241usTexas A&M University1
53–241usThe College of William and Mary1
53–241cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
53–241nlThe Liberators1
53–241gbgb-engThe Open University1
53–241gbgb-engThe Royal London Hospital1
53–241usThe University of New Mexico1
53–241nlTilburg University1
53–241itU-Hopper1
53–241mxUAM Iztapalapa1
53–241usUC Davis1
53–241saUmm Al-Qura University1
53–241coUniversidad de los Andes1
53–241esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
53–241brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
53–241brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
53–241chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
53–241esUniversity Carlos III of Madrid1
53–241ieUniversity College Cork1
53–241beUniversity College Ghent1
53–241auUniversity of Adelaide1
53–241usUniversity of Alabama1
53–241caUniversity of Alberta1
53–241nlUniversity of Amsterdam1
53–241chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
53–241usUniversity of Arizona1
53–241usUniversity of Arkansas1
53–241eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
53–241chUniversity of Basel1
53–241brUniversity of Brasília1
53–241usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
53–241usUniversity of California, Santa Cruz1
53–241gbgb-engUniversity of Cambridge1
53–241esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
53–241esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
53–241gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
53–241dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
53–241deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
53–241gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
53–241itUniversity of Florence1
53–241deUniversity of Freiburg1
53–241itUniversity of Genoa1
53–241usUniversity of Georgia1
53–241deUniversity of Giessen1
53–241usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
53–241usUniversity of Illinois1
53–241gbgb-engUniversity of Leeds1
53–241gbgb-engUniversity of Leicester1
53–241frUniversity of Lorraine1
53–241deUniversity of Magdeburg1
53–241caUniversity of Manitoba1
53–241usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
53–241auUniversity of Melbourne Medical School1
53–241usUniversity of Miami1
53–241itUniversity of Molise1
53–241beUniversity of Mons1
53–241esUniversity of Murcia1
53–241auUniversity of New South Wales1
53–241auUniversity of Newcastle1
53–241usUniversity of Oregon1
53–241deUniversity of Potsdam1
53–241auUniversity of Queensland1
53–241frUniversity of Rennes 11
53–241itUniversity of Sannio1
53–241eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
53–241caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
53–241cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
53–241zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
53–241auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
53–241usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
53–241usVassar College1
53–241fiVincit1
53–241beVrije Universiteit Brussel1
53–241usWayne State University1
53–241usWesleyan University1
53–241noWesterdals ACT1
53–241auWestern Hospital Footscray1
53–241usWestern Michigan University1
53–241usWestern Washington University1
53–241nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
53–241cnWuhan University1

Also on Chuniversiteit