Sardinian universities, and more generally Italian ones, are losing competitiveness . This is what emerges from the ranking drawn up every year by the Center World University Ranking (Cwur) .
The University of Cagliari ranks 641st globally (32nd in Italy) with a score of 73.0. The Cagliari-based university loses 35 positions compared to the 606th place it was in in the 2023 ranking.
Even worse is the University of Sassari, 980th in the world (47th in Italy) with a score of 70.6. There are 47 positions lost by the Sassari university , 933rd a year ago.
For the thirteenth consecutive year , Harvard is the most prestigious university in the world according to CWUR, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford. Fifth and fourth place, however, are occupied by Cambridge and Oxford, the only two public universities in the top part of the ranking.
The United States is the most represented country in the ranking (with 329 universities), but is under pressure due to growing international competition, especially Chinese. China, in fact, this year saw a better ranking of 95% of its 324 universities.
Europe also remains a major power in the ranking, with 639 institutions in the top 2,000: 92 in the UK, 73 in France and 69 in Germany .
The ranking also certifies the decline of Italian universities: 67 are included in this year's list, but 75% lose positions . A decline due to declining research outputs in a context of increasing global competition from better-funded universities.
The first Italian university is La Sapienza in Rome , which loses eight positions and is 124th worldwide. Followed by Padua, Milan, Bologna Turin, Federico II of Naples, Florence, Genoa, Pisa and Pavia . In addition to La Sapienza, only Padua and Milan are placed among the top 200, in 173rd and 186th place respectively, both losing more than 50 positions in the ranking.
(Unioneonline/L)
