Political scientists best in Sweden.

– A good research environment also benefits education, says Mikael Gilljam.

Political scientists at the top of ranking

In the latest Shanghai Ranking, the political scientists at the University of Gothenburg are ranked 19th in the world. It is the highest ranking in Sweden and second highest in the Nordic region.

A focused publication strategy is one explanation for the good result.

IN THE SHANGHAI RANKING, the subject Political Science is mainly measured bibliometrically, that is, it is mainly publications and citations that count. Admittedly, there is an indicator for prizes, but it has never been relevant to Swedish universities.

The University of Gothenburg's high ranking is no coincidence, but follows a long-standing trend. – We adopted a strategy a few years ago which means that we strive to constantly publish better and better articles in increasingly higher ranked journals, explains Mikael Persson, Assistant Head of Department at the Department of Political Science. Since the 1990s, the department has also worked to create an international culture, in which Bo Rothstein has been important. At major American conferences there are usually a couple or perhaps three political scientists from Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala – but about twenty from Gothenburg.

The only higher education institution in the Nordics that ranks higher than the University of Gothenburg is Aarhus University, which ended up in 10th place. – We have a number of collaborations with Aarhus, including a number of our PhD students who are working there now. The goal is, of course, to learn from them and become even better.

The Department of Political Science is strongly research oriented. They bring in a lot of external funding, in the last five years around SEK 76 million a year. – It is quite a lot considering that the department is not that big, having only around 75 researchers, says Head of Department Mikael Gilljam. One reason for the high ranking is probably that our researchers are encouraged to take a very broad interest in research, and not just devote themselves to their own special area. The ideal is that everyone should try to be interested in everything that goes on at the department. Good research leads to more interesting and better courses, the research environment thus rubs off on the teaching, so in return we get a vibrant teaching environment.

Getting an article into a really prestigious journal, such as

At major American conferences there are usually a couple or perhaps three political scientists from Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala – but about twenty from Gothenburg.

MIKAEL PERSSON