Three Finnish universities rise on THE World University Rankings

The Finnish university that improved its standing the most from the previous year on the prestigious, 1 662-university ranking was LUT University in Lappeenranta. The university climbed out of the 351–400 bracket to break into the 251–300 bracket on the back of a notable, 16-point increase in its score for citations.

“You could well say based on the result that we are an increasingly influential part of the international science community and a strong player in terms of industry co-operation,” analysedJari Hämäläinen, vice rector in charge of research at LUT University.

The university, he estimated, can continue to climb the ranking with investments in developing its brand.

“LUT is trailing the top international universities particularly in reputational factors, and the weight put on them is great also in this ranking. Building the LUT brand will help us in future also in these international comparisons.”

Tampere University and the University of Oulu both moved from the 301–350 bracket into the 251–300 bracket, the former following increases in scores for research and industry income and the latter following increases in scores for research, citations and international outlook.

The University of Helsinki and Aalto University remain the highest-ranked universities in Finland, according to Times Higher Education.

The University of Helsinki slid from 98th to 101st place despite improving its overall score marginally on the back of improvements in teaching, industry income and international outlook. Aalto University, in turn, improved its scores for citations, industry income and international outlook to hold on to its spot in the 201–250 bracket.

The University of Turku was slotted in the 351–400 bracket, the University of Vaasa in the 401–500 bracket, the University of Eastern Finland in the 501–600 bracket and Åbo Akademi University in the 601–800 bracket.