The University of Opole was ranked 7th among universities and 24th among higher education institutions (HEIS) in the prestigious national ranking published by the ‘Perspektywy’ Educational Foundation on 29 June 2023. It is another year in a row that we moved up several places in both rankings!
It should be noted that last year, the University of Opole was in the 30th place among higher education institutions and in the 9th place among universities. This means that we moved up as many as six places in the ranking of HEIs and two places among universities. Two years ago, i.e. in 2021, the University of Opole was in the 11th place among universities and in the 38th place in the ranking of HEIs. The UO is also the highest ranked HEI in the region for another year in a row.
‘This is our great success,’ says the UO Rector, Professor Marek Masnyk. ‘This success is the result of tremendous work of the entire team: all university employees, deans and directors of institutes, because in those categories in which we were ranked highest, research results count. This was confirmed by the excellent evaluation results obtained last year. Is is a considerable asset, but also a considerable challenge for all of us and for those who will come after me when I close a certain period of my own career in the university’s history with the good standing of our university. I don’t see it in terms of personal success. I look at it as the success of an idea that we collectively managed to realise after 2018. There was a lot of questioning at the time, a lot of criticism. Today, after these 4-5 years, I can say that I was right.
Prof. Marek Masnyk points out that in 2016, when he took over as rector, the UO was in the sixth ten in the ranking of HEIs in the Perspektywy University Ranking.
‘In the ranking of universities, we have reached a glass ceiling. I don’t think we can achieve a higher position in this category. However, there are certainly prospects for improvement in the ranking of HEI’s,’ stresses Prof. Marek Masnyk. ‘To achieve this, however, further development of the UO is necessary. As a university, we have not been pampered by our authorities. In the past seven years, in fact, the only major funding we have received from the Ministry was granted under Minister Jarosław Gowin for the development of the Collegium Medicum building. All other applications submitted to the ministry were either rejected or received little money. We obtained more money in the region from Marshal Andrzej Buła for the UO International Research and Development Centre for Agriculture and Food Industry, which we opened a week ago. More local government funding for further investments can be expected in the future. We must be aware that if we are to develop, build a base for scientific potential, maintain a high ranking and the position of an academic university, we must invest in this development,’ concludes Prof. Masnyk.
As explained by the ‘Perspektywy’ Educational Foundation, theUniversity Ranking includes higher education institutions, public and non-public, with the exception of art schools, which have the right to confer a doctoral degree. It takes into account 30 indicators grouped into eight criteria: prestige, graduates on the labour market, academic potential, innovation, academic efficiency, education conditions, internationalisation, and publications. This makes it one of the most extensive and transparent educational rankings in the world, according to the Foundation. Its methodology is developed by the Chapter chaired by Professor Michał Kleiber, former President of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
‘Our places in this ranking are a reason for immense satisfaction for the university’s staff and the rector’s team,’ says the UO Vice-Rector for Development and Finance, Prof. Rafał Matwiejczuk. ‘However, one must remember that competitive advantages are sometimes easier to gain and harder to maintain. Other universities compete in many different fields. So we are happy with the results, but at the same time we know that we should still enhance and modify our functioning. We should also set further directions of development in various areas, including education, practical training or relations with the environment, for example with institutions that can boost our development.’
It is worth noting that the University of Opole was ranked 2nd in Poland in terms of publications and 2nd in terms of academic effectiveness.
‘We were high in these rankings last year. This year’s ranking is also a confirmation of the evaluation results achieved last year’, says Prof. Marek Masnyk. ‘And its results were based on hard indicators: the number of citations, publications or grants. This does not mean that we get euphoric. We are happy, but we are aware of what we need to improve. And among these things is, for example, the student-to-staff ratio. It is a question of breaking down certain barriers and expectations. In short: we should urge deans and directors of institutes not to open new programmes and to strengthen the ones that are already in operation,’ the Rector points out.
In the latest evaluation of the quality of scientific activity conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science for 2017-2021, we received one A+ grade, six A grades and ten B+ grades. This means that in each of the evaluated disciplines, we have full promotion rights, i.e. we can confer doctoral and post-doctoral degrees.
Full results of the Perspektywy University Ranking can be found on the HERE.
HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS RANKING
Material prepared on the basis of information posted on the
website www.ranking.perspektywy.pl