For the seventh time, Palacký University Olomouc has been listed in the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the Shanghai Rankings. UP is one of six Czech universities included in the ranking’s TOP 1000 in 2023. At the same time, Olomouc’s university has improved its position globally compared to last year, when it took the 601st–700th place.
The Shanghai Rankings have been comparing universities since 2003, focusing mainly on their scientific performance. Palacký University Olomouc has been ranked since 2017 and regularly is in the top 3 Czech universities. The same is true this year, when UP shared the third place among domestic universities, together with the Czech University of life Sciences Prague, overall ranked as 601st–700th. The Technical University of Ostrava (VSB) and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice have dropped out of the ranking for 2023. Charles University in Prague remains the leading Czech school.
2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Charles University Prague | 201st–300th | 201st–300th | 301st–400th | 301st–400th |
| Masaryk University Brno | 601st–700th | 601st–700th | 401st–500th | 401st–500th |
| Palacký University Olomouc | 501st–600th | 701st–800th | 701st–800th | 601st–700th |
| Czech University of Life Sciences Prague | 801st–900th | 801st–900th | 801st–900th | 601st–700th |
| Brno University of Technology | x | 701st–800th | 901st–1000th | 701st–800th |
| Czech Technical University in Prague | 701st–800th | 801st–900th | 801st–900th | 801st–900th |
of six specific indicators. These are:
- the number of alumni winning Nobel Prizes/Fields Medals (Alumni),
- the number of staff winning Nobel Prizes/Fields Medal (Award),
- the number of Highly Cited Researchers (according to Clarivate Analytics) (HiCi),
- the number of papers published in Nature and Science (N&S),
- the number of papers indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Science Citation Index (PUB),
- academic performance (the weighted score of all previous indicators) (PCP).
2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities | Quality of Education | Quality of Faculty | Research Output | Per Capita Performance | ||
| Alumni (10 %) | Award (20 %) | HiCi (20 %) | N&S (20 %) | PUB (20 %) | PPC (10 %) | |
| Charles University Prague | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 11.1 | 41.5 | 18.9 |
| Masaryk University Brno | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 9.7 | 28.1 | 21.0 |
| Palacký University Olomouc | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 21.8 | 20.5 |
| Czech University of Life Sciences Prague | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 3.6 | 20.1 | 23.8 |
| Brno University of Technology | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 4.1 | 19.7 | 16.0 |
| Czech Technical University in Prague | 5.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 21.9 | 13.3 |
The move up the rankings is mainly due to the fact that UP has returned to the list of universities that have Highly Cited Researchers (HiCi) among their staff. While in the 2022 ARWU edition only Masaryk University and Technical University Ostrava scored in this indicator, in the 2023 ARWU edition five out of six Czech universities have a non-zero score. This year, Masaryk University was joined by Charles University, the Czech University of Life Sciences, Brno University of Technology and, last but not least, Palacký University Olomouc. Each of the above-mentioned universities has a Highly Cited Researcher. The only Czech university with a zero rating in this indicator is Czech Technical University in Prague. However, it is the only one that can boast a score for a graduate who has won the Nobel Prize (Alumni). Although this is a Nobel Prize awarded almost 50 years ago, according to the methodology of the Shanghai Rankings, it is counted in the ranking for 90 years, with its weight decreasing over time.
Compared to the previous year, the number of papers in the Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Science Citation Index databases (PUB) should also be of concern to Czech universities, because their scores in this indicator have all dropped. Despite the decline, however, Charles University continues to significantly outperform other Czech universities in this indicator. This cannot be said, however, in the case of the weighted score of all five previous indicators (PCP), in which Charles University ranks only 4th, after the Czech University of Life Sciences, Masaryk University, and Palacký University.
In the context of the international rankings strategy, the improved position in the overall ranking is not only a good result for Palacký University, but also positive feedback in relation to measures that were applied and in which the Science and Research Division also participated, for which they deserve thanks. Thanks to this year’s move up in this ranking, UP has gotten ahead of its Spanish and Danish colleagues from the AURORA ALLIANCE, thus occupying the same position as another partner, the University of Iceland. The world number one is, traditionally, Harvard University, which is followed in the Top 15 by 11 other US universities.
Complete results can be found HERE.