TU Delft ranks in top 50 on 2024 Times Higher Education list; Six Dutch unis in top 100

The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) tops the list of Dutch universities in the Times Higher Education 2024 ranking, with the 48th position globally. Six Dutch universities have made it to the top 100 in this annual world ranking by the British magazine.

Delft's ranking jumped from 70th to 48th place. This is the first time since 2016 a Dutch university has made it to the top 50 in this year's ranking. According to the magazine, TU Delft particularly excelled in industry and international outlook.

The University of Amsterdam is the second-highest Dutch institution on the list, ranking 61st, dropping from one position. Its strong points include research quality and international outlook. Just behind is Wageningen University, which was the top Dutch university for the past four years but has now slipped from 59th to 64th place.

Other Dutch universities in the top 100 include Leiden University (77, same position), the University of Groningen (75 to 79), and Erasmus University Rotterdam (80 to 99).

Outside the top 100 are VU University (121 to 125), Maastricht University (145 to 138), and Radboud University (139 to 140). Both TU Eindhoven (168) and the University of Twente (184) have made their way into the top 200 after being absent from the rankings in previous years. Tilburg University remains the only Dutch university outside the top 200.

The Times Higher Education rankings are one of the most important international lists for assessing university performance. For the latest list, 1904 different universities in 108 countries and territories were assessed on various factors. These include teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.

The University of Oxford leads the ranking for the eighth consecutive year. The top 10 list is predominantly composed of Anglo-American institutions, with Stanford and MIT securing the second and third spots respectively. Harvard dropped to fourth and is followed by Cambridge, Princeton, California Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, Berkeley, and Yale.

In July, Dutch universities said they will take a more critical attitude towards global university ranking systems. The Association of Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) said it will adopt policy advice from an expert group that has conducted research into the subject, who now believe that the manner in which these lists are drawn up is too one-sided.

According to the experts, these rankings have not established solid criteria to measure this properly. For example, the number of scientific publications and citations is given too much weight, while simultaneously, too little attention is paid to different qualities that are important to science.

Dutch universities on the Times Higher Education 2024 (ranking in brackets)

1. Delft University of Technology (48)
2. University of Amsterdam (61)
3. Wageningen University & Research (64)
4. Leiden Univesrity (77)
5. University of Groningen (79)
6. Erasmus University Rotterdam (99)
7. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (125)
8. Maastricht University (138)
9. Radboud University (140)
10. Eindhoven University of Technology (168)
11. University of Twente (184)
12. Tilburg University (201-250)