07.05.2009
Universities in southern Germany cut a fine figure in university rankings

Universities in Baden-Württemberg have once again performed impressively in the most comprehensive annual ranking of German and selected European universities. In the listing published by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) for 2009/2010, universities in southern Germany were recognised as enjoying strong research reputation in the natural sciences in particular. In biology the listing was topped by the Universities of Freiburg, Heidelberg, Tübingen, Stuttgart (technical biology), Munich and Göttingen; in chemistry by Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Munich, Aachen and Göttingen; in physics by Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Munich and Aachen. In medicine the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg co-led the field (with the University of Lübeck) with its newly developed model degree course for medical students. Top marks also went to the University of Freiburg for its teacher training courses in biology, geography and sport as well as for pharmacy. The University of Tübingen is up among the front runners in sports science – neck and neck with the Universities of Jena, Kiel and Potsdam. The Universities of Freiburg, Hohenheim and Konstanz are also among German universities offering the most attractive study conditions.

This year’s CHE-Ranking higher education listing, which has been compiled for over ten years, includes almost 300 universities and universities of applied sciences in Germany and selected institutions of higher education in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands as well newcomers from Italy, Hungary and Romania. The ranking covers 35 subjects and, as such, is relevant to more than three quarters of new undergraduates in German-speaking countries. Over 250,000 students provide input on 34 criteria for each degree subject on teaching, research, institutional resources, the reputation of their faculties among professors and what it is actually like studying at each college. The CHE’s ranking was initially published with the newsmagazine “stern”; since 2005 the ranking has been taken under the wings of the weekly quality newspaper “DIE ZEIT”. The full results can be read on the internet. The most important are also reproduced in the ZEIT study guide for 2009/2010. 

www.university-ranking.de
www.che-ranking.de
ranking.zeit.de/che10/CHE