THE Young University Rankings 2020: born to serve

Browse the THE Young University Rankings 2020 results

“Young universities are so important. We are agile enough to meet our constituencies where they are; in the community, in urban settings and in the world, rather [than] observing from an ivory tower or from behind a wall.”

These words from Judy Genshaft, then president of the University of South Florida system, at the Times Higher Education Young Universities Summit in 2018, sum up what our Young University Rankings are all about. They are an annual chance to celebrate the new, innovative institutions that may not have the levels of funding or prestige that their older peers enjoy, but have a vast array of other benefits – agility being one.

Some of these advantages of youth are detailed in our analysis, which explores whether young universities are more focused than their ancient counterparts on civic engagement. The answer, according to several leaders of young universities, is an emphatic “yes”.

“Being young helps. It allows [you] to start from scratch, and maybe develop more sensitivity about social issues,” says Josep Lluís Martí, vice-rector for innovation projects at Pompeu Fabra University.

As well as our main table showcasing universities that are aged 50 and under, we again publish lists of the best “Golden Age” institutions (those founded between 1945 and 1967) and “Millennial” institutions (those founded from 2000).

The top university in each ranking is based in a different continent, reflecting the different eras of higher education expansion across the globe. The Golden Age list is headed by the University of California, San Diego in the US; the Under 50 by Asia’s Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and the Millennial by Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris in Europe.

As Ian Jacobs, president and vice-chancellor of UNSW Sydney, one of the top Golden Age institutions, reflects, universities’ drive and success cannot help but be bound up with the social, political and economic context of when they were founded.  

UNSW, which was established in 1949, “is a product of the era in which our university was born, a time that demanded us to be practical, responsive, inclusive and unwilling to compromise on excellence”, Jacobs writes.

This will no doubt chime with many of the other young universities in our rankings.

Countries/regions represented in the Young University Rankings 2020

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com