The field of participants once again grew significantly in the past year, to a grand total of 963 young universities. This is an increase by 22 percent, or 173 new entrants in absolute terms. "Young" universities in this ranking are all universities that were founded within the past 50 years. Despite the increased competition, the University has stood its ground and is now in 60th place – fourth best in Germany. In a global context, this means that Passau continues to rank among the top 10 percent. The THE Young University Ranking evaluates assessments in research, teaching and transfer, as well as citations and internationality.
"It feels good to be this far ahead among the young universities. We are very proud that our university has attracted leading professors in recent years – not least thanks to the Bavarian High-Tech Agenda and AI Initiative. Bavarian higher education policy gives us a tailwind. We will continue on this path and I thank everyone who contributed to this good performance. First and foremost, however, I would like to thank our students. They do a wonderful job of ensuring that we remain a young university", said Professor Ulrich Bartosch, President of the University of Passau.
The Young University Ranking is based on the same 13 performance indicators as the "age-independent" THE World University Ranking, which is open to all universities worldwide. However, the weightings of the 13 indicators are slightly adjusted to reflect the performance characteristics of younger universities more closely. This year, universities founded between 1973 and 2022 were eligible to participate. The 2023 ranking is led by Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), followed by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (China), with Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL Research University, France) in third place.