University of Helsinki falls out of world’s top 100

The University of Helsinki has dropped out of the world’s 100 best universities in the Shanghai university ranking, Yle reports. It is placed between 101st and 150th this year, as the ranking gives exact positions only to the top 100 institutions.

The university last fell out of the top 100 three years ago. It ranked 99th the year before last and 94th last year. Its highest position was 56th, in 2016 and 2017.

The ranking lists the world’s 1,000 leading research universities each year. Despite falling outside the top 100, the University of Helsinki remains the highest ranked Finnish university. Seven Finnish universities made the list.

The University of Turku was Finland’s second highest ranked university, placing between 301st and 400th. It improved on last year’s position of 401st to 500th.

Aalto University and the University of Oulu were placed between 401st and 500th. Tampere University and the University of Eastern Finland ranked between 501st and 600th. The University of Eastern Finland improved from last year’s position of 601st to 700th.

The University of Jyväskylä ranked between 601st and 700th, also improving from last year’s position of 701st to 800th.

The highest ranked Nordic university was the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, in 34th place. Harvard University in the United States topped the overall ranking.

The Shanghai ranking is influenced by factors including the number of Nobel Prize winners and research articles published in leading journals. The number of highly cited researchers also has a significant effect on the results. The ranking was first published in 2003.