More Than Our Rank Community Calls
The INORMS Research Evaluation Group regularly run More Than Our Rank Community Calls to advocate for, and share signatories’ experience of joining the initiative.
The More Than Our Rank initiative has been developed in response to some of the problematic features and effects of the global university rankings. By participating academic institutions are demonstrating a commitment to responsible assessment and to acknowledging a broader and more diverse definition of institutional success.
Previous Sessions:
Spotlight Session: Developing more responsible approaches to university assessment: the CWTS Leiden Ranking experience
When: Wednesday, 27 November 2024, 15:00-16:00 GMT
In this session, Nees Jan van Eck, Senior Research & Head of Data Science at CWTS, Leiden University will talk about how they sought to develop the CWTS Leiden Ranking in line with principles of responsible assessment. He will describe how this led to the creation of an Open Edition of the ranking based on open data from OpenAlex, and to highlighting More Than Our Rank signatories. Nees will finish by outlining the next steps for the development of the ranking.
Nees Jan van Eck is senior researcher at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He is also a coordinator of the Information & Openness focal area of CWTS and head of data science of CWTS, making him responsible for the entire data infrastructure of the center.
Nees Jan’s work focusses on studying and developing infrastructures, algorithms, and tools to support research assessment, science policy, and scholarly communication. Nees Jan is developer of VOSviewer, a widely used tool to analyze and visualize bibliometric data. More than 25,000 publications have appeared in international scientific journals in which the software is employed. Nees Jan is architect and lead developer of the CWTS Leiden Ranking, a bibliometric ranking of major universities worldwide.
Nees Jan has published more than 80 publications. He is editor brief communications of the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, he serves in the editorial boards of Journal of Data and Information Science, Scientometrics, and Quantitative Science Studies, and he served as an elected board member of the International Society for Informetrics and Scientometrics between 2015 and 2023.
Spotlight Session: Supporting universities to use global rankings responsibly: introducing the EUA Guidelines
08 October 2024
In 2023 the European University Association developed some guidelines for member institutions on their use of the global university rankings. This session explored why were they introduced, what problems they sought to address, and how they have been received.
Dr Monika Steinel is Deputy Secretary General of EUA. In this role, she shares strategic oversight of different elements of EUA’s work and contributes to the Association’s organisational development, including the implementation of a new membership strategy. She deputises for the Secretary General, leads EUA’s activities on academic freedom and university values and coordinates the Association’s recent work on rankings. Monika has been with EUA since 2010, initially in the Governance, Autonomy and Funding unit where she implemented EUA’s flagship Autonomy Scorecard project. In 2012, she moved to the Secretary General’s office to support EUA leadership in overall policy development and association management. Monika holds a PhD from University College London, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BA from the University of York.
Spotlight Session: What students think about the global university rankings
24 June 2024
In November 2023, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) following the lead of Trinity College Dublin Student Union (TCDSU), passed a motion calling for College governing bodies to “re-evaluate their participation in university rankings” with the ultimate goal of withdrawing from any they saw as unfit. In this Spotlight session, the architects of this movement described what led them to this decision, what impact they believe the rankings have on students, and what the response has been to their advocacy in Ireland.
László Molnárfi serves as the TCDSU President 23/24, is currently studying PPES, and is from Hungary. TCDSU represents every student in Trinity College Dublin and since 1968, it has united our voices around issues of learning conditions, discrimination, classism and inequality. The TCDSU is run by students, for students. We collectively represent, defend and fight for students’ rights, alongside standing in solidarity with the workers’ movement. We represent 20,000 students, 4,500 masters students, and 1,500 researchers. We provide access to services, support and we engage in political activism.
Spotlight Session: The Role of “Quality”, Commercial Players, and Popular Media in Global University Rankings
2 May 2024
Dr. Riyad A. Shahjahan is an Associate Professor of Higher, Adult and Life Long Education (HALE) at Michigan State University, whose current research examines the role of commercial players and media in global university rankings. In this Spotlight Session, Dr. Riyad Shahjahan discussed the ideas of evaluating research quality and the role of for-profit business and media influence on global university rankings.
Spotlight Session: How to challenge the coloniality & biases of the global university rankings
16 April 2024
Professor David McCoy of the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health recently led on a significant review on the coloniality & biases of the global university rankings. This exposed the rankings as a mechanism by which the concentration of power and prestige among universities in the Global North is maintained and describes the resulting negative influence on global health priorities. The expert group who authored the report subsequently published a separate set of recommendations that sought to address the issues they raised. In this spotlight session, David described how the review came about, what it found, and offer advice to all stakeholders as to how they can play their part in challenging the coloniality and biases of the global university rankings.
Spotlight Session: Withdrawing from the university rankings – the Utrecht story.
11 December 2023
The University of Utrecht recently announced that, in addition to signing up to More Than Our Rank, they had withdrawn altogether from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In this Spotlight Session, Dr Jacob Nelson, Research Policy Officer, and Dr Jeroen Bosman, Open Science Specialist, from the University of Utrecht outlined the background to their decision, the process by which the institution came to withdraw, the reaction from their academic community, and any predicted outcomes from their decision.
Asia-Pacific
March 24, 2023,
Keynote talk: “Teflon tables: is there any criticism of university league tables that will stick?” by Professor Adrian Barnett, School of Public Health & Social Work, Queensland University of Technology
Why we support More Than Our Rank: The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), DORA Vice Chair, Professor Ginny Barbour
Why we became an early adopter of More Than Our Rank: Queensland University of Technology. Dr John Byron, Principal Policy Advisor
The practicalities and benefits of participating in More Than Our Rank. Mediated discussion.
Africa, Americas, Europe
When: April 17, 2023
Keynote: “The Hidden Costs of Rankings” by Leslie Chan, Associate Professor in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media and the Centre for Critical Development Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Why we support More Than Our Rank: The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University. Professor Ludo Waltman, Deputy Director of CWTS
Early adopter panel. Contributions from More Than Our Rank signatory universities
The practicalities and benefits of participating in More Than Our Rank. Mediated discussion.