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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
1usMicrosoft8
2–3usCarnegie Mellon University7
2–3usNorth Carolina State University7
4–7nlDelft University of Technology4
4–7ilThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem4
4–7deUniversity of Stuttgart4
4–7chUniversity of Zurich4
8–12seChalmers University of Technology3
8–12usIBM Corporation3
8–12auMonash University3
8–12caQueen’s University3
8–12chUniversità della Svizzera italiana3
13–47ilBen-Gurion University of the Negev2
13–47caConcordia University2
13–47auCurtin University2
13–47nlEindhoven University of Technology2
13–47usGoogle2
13–47jpKyushu University2
13–47usNorthern Arizona University2
13–47nlOpen University of the Netherlands2
13–47cnPeking University2
13–47usPivotal2
13–47caPolytechnique Montréal2
13–47sgSingapore Management University2
13–47fiTampere University2
13–47gbgb-engUniversity College London2
13–47nzUniversity of Auckland2
13–47chUniversity of Bern2
13–47caUniversity of British Columbia2
13–47caUniversity of Calgary2
13–47usUniversity of Chicago2
13–47seUniversity of Gothenburg2
13–47nlUniversity of Groningen2
13–47fiUniversity of Helsinki2
13–47fiUniversity of Jyväskylä2
13–47luUniversity of Luxembourg2
13–47usUniversity of Maryland2
13–47noUniversity of Oslo2
13–47fiUniversity of Oulu2
13–47deUniversity of Passau2
13–47itUniversity of Salerno2
13–47usUniversity of Southern California2
13–47caUniversity of Victoria2
13–47usUniversity of Washington2
13–47nlVrije Universiteit Amsterdam2
13–47caYork University2
13–47chZurich University of Applied Sciences2
48–213fiAalto University1
48–213dkAarhus University1
48–213usAugusta University1
48–213nlAvans University of Applied Sciences1
48–213cnBaidu, Inc.1
48–213eses-ctBarcelona Supercomputing Center1
48–213cnBeijing Institute of Technology1
48–213trBilkent University1
48–213usBoeing Research & Technology Europe1
48–213gbBritish Geological Survey1
48–213usBroadPath1
48–213usCalifornia Institute of Technology1
48–213usCalifornia Polytechnic State University1
48–213seCarmenta Geospatial Technologies1
48–213usClarkson University1
48–213usClemson University1
48–213krClova AI Research1
48–213itCNR-ISTI1
48–213frCNRS1
48–213seCodeScene1
48–213usColumbia Basin College1
48–213usColumbia University1
48–213noConceptos Consulting1
48–213usCornell University1
48–213usDrexel University1
48–213gbgb-engDurham University1
48–213deEberhard Karls Universität Tübingen1
48–213nlExact International Development1
48–213usFacebook1
48–213brFederal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte1
48–213brFederal University of Amazonas1
48–213brFederal University of Bahia1
48–213brFederal University of Minas Gerais1
48–213brFederal University of Pará1
48–213brFederal University of Rio Grande do Norte1
48–213brFederal University of Sergipe1
48–213deFraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering1
48–213itFree University of Bozen-Bolzano1
48–213usGeorge Fox University1
48–213usGeorge Mason University1
48–213usHarvard Business School1
48–213deHarz University of Applied Sciences1
48–213gbgb-engImperial College London1
48–213frInria1
48–213usIowa State University1
48–213irIran Telecommunication Research Center1
48–213frIRISA1
48–213itItalian National Research Council1
48–213usJane Street Capital1
48–213nlJeronimus Academy of Data Science1
48–213usJet Propulsion Laboratory1
48–213czJetBrains Research1
48–213nlJheronimus Academy of Data Science1
48–213usJohns Hopkins University1
48–213krKAIST1
48–213usKansas State University1
48–213usKennesaw State University1
48–213usKent State University1
48–213gbgb-engKing’s College London1
48–213krKorea Press Foundation1
48–213xxLeadership Footprint1
48–213deLeibniz Institute for Neurobiology1
48–213nlLeiden University1
48–213usLoyola College1
48–213seLund University1
48–213caMcGill University1
48–213esMeta41
48–213deMETOP GmbH1
48–213usMontclair State University1
48–213auMurdoch University1
48–213usNetflix1
48–213fiNokia Bell Labs1
48–213usNorthwestern University1
48–213noNorwegian University of Science and Technology1
48–213noNTNU1
48–213usOakland University1
48–213seÖrebro University1
48–213usOregon State University1
48–213noØstfold University College1
48–213deOtto von Guericke University Magdeburg1
48–213dePaderborn University1
48–213dePhilipps University Marburg1
48–213ptPolytechnic Institute of Tomar1
48–213caPolytechnique Montreal1
48–213nlRadboud University1
48–213gbRolls-Royce plc1
48–213lvSEB Life & Pension Holding AB Riga Branch1
48–213cnShanghai Jiao Tong University1
48–213noSimula Research Laboratory1
48–213noSINTEF1
48–213nlSoftware Improvement Group1
48–213usStanford University1
48–213usStevens Institute1
48–213auSwinburne University of Technology1
48–213chSwisscom1
48–213deTechnische Universität München1
48–213esTecnalia1
48–213usTexas A&M University1
48–213usThe College of William and Mary1
48–213cncn-hkThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology1
48–213gbgb-engThe Open University1
48–213usThe University of New Mexico1
48–213nlTilburg University1
48–213itU-Hopper1
48–213mxUAM Iztapalapa1
48–213usUC Berkeley1
48–213usUC Davis1
48–213saUmm Al-Qura University1
48–213coUniversidad de los Andes1
48–213esUniversidad Rey Juan Carlos1
48–213brUniversidade Federal de Pernambuco1
48–213brUniversidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná1
48–213chUniversità della Svizzera italiana1
48–213ieUniversity College Cork1
48–213beUniversity College Ghent1
48–213auUniversity of Adelaide1
48–213usUniversity of Alabama1
48–213caUniversity of Alberta1
48–213nlUniversity of Amsterdam1
48–213chUniversity of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland1
48–213usUniversity of Arizona1
48–213usUniversity of Arkansas1
48–213eses-ctUniversity of Barcelona1
48–213chUniversity of Basel1
48–213brUniversity of Brasília1
48–213usUniversity of California, Los Angeles1
48–213esUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha1
48–213esUniversity of Castilla–La Mancha1
48–213gbgb-engUniversity of Central Lancashire1
48–213dkUniversity of Copenhagen1
48–213deUniversity of Duisburg-Essen1
48–213gbgb-engUniversity of East Anglia1
48–213itUniversity of Florence1
48–213deUniversity of Freiburg1
48–213usUniversity of Georgia1
48–213deUniversity of Giessen1
48–213usUniversity of Hawai‘i1
48–213usUniversity of Illinois1
48–213frUniversity of Lorraine1
48–213deUniversity of Magdeburg1
48–213caUniversity of Manitoba1
48–213usUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst1
48–213usUniversity of Miami1
48–213itUniversity of Molise1
48–213esUniversity of Murcia1
48–213auUniversity of Newcastle1
48–213usUniversity of Oregon1
48–213gbgb-engUniversity of Oxford1
48–213deUniversity of Potsdam1
48–213frUniversity of Rennes 11
48–213itUniversity of Sannio1
48–213eses-gaUniversity of Santiago de Compostela1
48–213caUniversity of Saskatchewan1
48–213cnUniversity of Science and Technology of China1
48–213gbgb-engUniversity of Sheffield1
48–213zaUniversity of Stellenbosch Business School1
48–213auUniversity of Technology Sydney1
48–213usUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee1
48–213usVassar College1
48–213fiVincit1
48–213usWayne State University1
48–213usWesleyan University1
48–213noWesterdals ACT1
48–213usWestern Michigan University1
48–213nzWhitireia Polytechnic1
48–213cnWuhan University1

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