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Zhejiang University Ranks 4th on the List of U.S. News Best Global Universities for Engineering

[From]:浙江大学[Editor]:[Date]:2015/10/10[Hits]:15

According to the 2016 U.S. News Rankings for Best Global Universities for Engineering, Zhejiang University ranks 4th, second to Tsinghua University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkley. 

The bibliometric indicators are based on data from the Web of ScienceTM for the five-year period from 2009 to 2013. The engineering rankings use eight ranking factors. Publications, total citations and number of publications that are among the 10 percent most cited account for 15% respectively, global research reputation and regional research reputation take up 12.5% each, and normalized citation impact, percentage of total publications that are among the 10 percent most cited and international collaboration occupy 10% respectively.

U.S. News has calculated the Best National Universities rankings since the 1980s and is the most authoritative and influential university ranking in the United States. In 2014, it released the Best Global Universities rankings, according to which Zhejiang University ranked 8th in engineering.

Prof. CHEN Yunmin, Director of the Faculty of Engineering, Zhejiang University, said that with a solid foundation, the engineering discipline has blossomed and formed its distinctive feature. “Since China’s reform and opening-up, Zhejiang University has prospered fast to cater to the demands for social and economic development, in particular in the Yangtze River Delta. In the past decade, Zhejiang University has attached more importance to scientific research into engineering. Both the number of publications and the number of publications that are among the 10 percent most cited rank among top 30 globally,” said CHEN Yunmin.

At present, Zhejiang University is entering a new stage on which a growing number of original findings are produced, indicative of enormous assets in merging fundamental scientific research and engineering applications. Prof. GAO Chao from the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering makes the lightest solid material—carbon sponge—with graphene, which is not only academically pioneering but also has extraordinary industrial values. This research is critically acclaimed by eminent journals, including Nature. YANG Huayong, a professor of the College of Mechanical Engineering and a Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is dedicated to designing and making TBMs.

Zhejiang University also plays a leading role in education. “Engineering students have ample resources so that they can put their creative ideas in motion. Most Ph.D. candidates have the opportunity for exchange programs and foreign experts are invited to deliver speeches and give lectures almost on a weekly basis,” said CHEN Yunmin.

CHEN Yunmin said that though various rankings are definitely crucial indicators, we need to take a sober and rational look at them.