On 14 January, 2016, the magazine Times Higher Education (THE) published its top 200 list of the most international universities, based on the THE world university ranking published in September 2015. The University of Luxembourg obtained a remarkable position: number 2 in the world, just after Qatar University and before the University of Hong Kong. This is the first time that the University of Luxembourg participates in the THE ranking.

                              Ranking page of the University of Luxembourg (2nd)

“It goes without saying that we are extremely pleased with the top result among the most international universities in the world. At the University of Luxembourg an international outlook prevails in all areas. We see internationalisation not as a goal in itself but as a means by which we can achieve a high international standing in research and education”, Professor Rainer Klump, President of the University of Luxembourg, stated. “Internationalisation is embedded in our young University and has been a priority from the start.”

Being the world’s most widely referenced university rankings, THE World University Rankings play an important role in degree recognition globally. The ranking methodology employs five separate performance indicators to reflect a university’s strengths in five different areas: teaching, research, citation, industry income and international outlook. The University of Luxembourg’s strongest pillar was “international outlook”.

“We believe globalisation will continue, and we want to prepare our students for the global working environment that awaits them. The goal is also to make our staff and our research internationally competitive. Another aim is to draw talented researchers from abroad; to become a preferred destination for the most ambitious researchers in the world.

We work strategically to attract top quality students globally, and for those students to become international leaders in their domain”, Professor Franck Leprévost, responsible for participation in rankings, and former Vice president of international relations and organisation (2005-2015), underlined.

When awarding the points for International Outlook three different views were taken into consideration: International-to-domestic-student ratio, International-to-domestic-staff ratio and International collaboration. The three different categories for evaluation of International Outlook do not only consider the ability of a university to attract students, doctoral candidates, faculty and staff from all over the world, but also the proportion of a university’s total research journal publications that have at least one international co-author. Luxembourg scored 99.8 out of 100 points for its International Outlook.  

“An institution’s global outlook is one of the key markers of a prestigious university”, Phil Baty, Editor at THE Rankings, confirmed. “The top institutions hire faculty from all over the world, attract students from a global market of top talent and collaborate with leading departments wherever they happen to be based. It is great news for all the institutions in the list of the most international universities in the world. It is a sign of great potential, competitiveness and dynamism.”