Aarhus University (AU) has climbed 8 places in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, taking the 109^th place among 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions worldwide. THE ranks universities based on five performance indicators: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook. These areas are weighted accordingly: teaching (29.5%), research environment (30%), research quality (29%), industry (4%), and international outlook (7.5%). 

Increase in research quality and teaching

The main factor for AU’s rise on the charts is a significant increase in their research quality score by 8.7 points, accounting for 30% of the total score. Research quality is measured by citation impact (average number a university’s published work is cited by scholars globally), research strength (research papers published in the 75^th percentile of the Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI)), research excellence (number of publications that are among the top 10% of publications worldwide) and research influence (citation impact based on number of citations and subject area).  AU is a research-based university in Denmark with three campuses located in Aarhus, Emdrup and Herning along with a number of research locations in both Denmark and abroad. Lecturers integrate their own research in their teaching, to ensure students are up to date in the field.

Of equal importance, the metric teaching improved by 4.3 points, accounting for 29.5% of the total score. This indicator is measured by teaching reputation, institutional income, and the following ratios: student staff ratio, doctorate bachelor ratio, and doctorate staff ratio. Notably, AU reported a 13.5 student per staff ratio this past year. AU prides itself in its Scandinavian teaching style, which focuses on a relaxed and collaborative environment. Students are encouraged to participate and develop critical thinking skills through informal class discussions and debates. Lecturers and students are seen as equals; student insights are highly valued by lecturers.

The most significant increase of 24.6 points took place in industry, which encompasses industry income and patents. This metric only accounts for 4% of the total score and therefore, proportionately, only had a small impact on the overall score compared to the indicators mentioned above.

Aarhus University is comprised of five faculties: Arts, Business and Social Sciences, Health, Natural Sciences and Technical Sciences.

Study at Aarhus University

Don’t speak Danish, but want to study here? Not a problem. AU offers over 50 English-taught programs at bachelor’s and master’s level. Find out more here.