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University of Gothenburg ranked top 200 by QS The University of Gothenburg is advancing 22 places this year and qualifies for the top 200 list in the new QS ranking which was presented yesterday. – IT IS EXTREMELY gratifying that we have improved
clear guidelines regarding what applies at each faculty. If the department cannot afford it, the heads of department should be able to apply for money from higher up in the organisation. He believes that extra support is a reasonable request given that many other sectors of society have received money to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. – The money we have received in the education sector is not sufficient. Even if an extension of doctoral student employment is not cheap, you can never overinvest in education. ALEX CRAVCENCO thinks that
this knowledge should be used after the pandemic to improve postgraduate education. – The continued discussion is important and we will take advantage of the lessons we have learned from this experience to focus more on the individual study plan (ISP) and improve the training for supervisors. But minor things have also been lost. – Normally, we have an open- door policy where you can just knock on your supervisor’s door and ask a few questions. Something that has been very much appre ciated. Now you have to book a Zoom meeting for everything.
Alex Cravcenco
FACTS The survey One year into the pandemic. A review and outlook on PhD education at the University of Gothenburg during covid-19, to which 569 doctoral students responded (out of a total of 1,200), was conducted by the University of Gothenburg’s Doctoral Student Committee (GUDK) in the spring of 2021. The report is available at: https://gus.gu.se/verksamhet/ rapporter.
our placement, says Vice-chancellor Eva Wiberg, who hopes that it is a proof of the university’s successful international work. For the first time since 2012, the University of Gothenburg ranks among the top 200 universities in the QS World University Rankings. The fact that GU is rising 22 places this year is mainly due to the two indicators of the proportion of international students and employees, where GU has improved its position. – It is positive because it increases our visibility in the range up to 200, which probably makes it easier to recruit international students, says Magnus MacHale-Gunnarsson who analyzed the results. Another explanation is that the University of Gothenburg has also risen in the indicator Employer Reputation (from 15.8 points to 21.6). But according to Magnus MacHale-Gunnarsson, it is a shaky indicator based on dubious reputational surveys. – All Swedish higher education institutions are rising in this indicator, which is why we can assume that more Swedish employers answered the survey this year than before. Also in the citation indicator, which measures citations per researcher, the University of Gothenburg increases from 31.4 points to 37.2. – Most likely this is due to a method change, as all Swedish universities, except Umeå and Uppsala, clearly rise in this indicator, says Magnus MacHale-Gunnarsson who is still critical of the QS list methodology.
– THERE ARE MANY objections. Surveys are not re-
GUS
Göteborgs universitets studentkårer
A survey-based report by University of Gothenburg Docotral Commitee (GUDK)
One year into the pandemic A review and outlook on PhD education at the University of Gothenburg during covid-19
presentative, reputation surveys are given unreasonable importance and the rough field standardization creates a skew in the citation indicator. In addition to the University of Gothenburg, five other Swedish universities are rising on the list. According to the ranking, two are among the 100 best in the world: Lund University (87) and KTH (89). Chalmers has also advanced many placements and this year lies ahead of Uppsala University and is in 121st place in the world. But the very best universities are to the west: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in first place and the British University of Oxford in second place. Among the Nordic higher education institutions, the University of Copenhagen has the highest ranking.
Allan Eriksson Allan Eriksson GUJOURNAL SUMMER 2021
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