Social sciences score in rankings

Students’ opinions were taken into consideration as Political Science and Economics graduate courses at the University of Copenhagen are awarded a place in European ‘excellence group’

af Luci Ellis

The high quality of Political Sciences and Economics graduate courses at the University of Copenhagen are acknowledged in newly published European rankings, compiled by the German consulting group CHE Consult GmbH.

CHE Consult GmbH is a consulting company for higher education institutions, science institutes, ministries and foundations.

CHE conducts a yearly ’excellence ranking’ of Masters and Doctoral degree courses at European Universities. In its initial phase, the ranking included only the fields of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics.

Students’ voices were heard

This year, the CHE rankings include political science, psychology and economics for the first time.
Political science and economics graduate courses at the University of Copenhagen qualify for the so-called ‘excellence group’.

This is based on citations, publications, internationalisation as well as students’ and researchers’ mobility.
As well as these parameters, the placement is made in the light of students’ opinions, expressed via questionnaires.

Teaching facilities, research environment, teaching quality and the physical environment were also taken into consideration.

Raising the faculty’s international profile

Troels Østergaard Sørensen, Dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences is pleased with Political Science and Economics’ placement in the Excellence group.

»The CHE ranking is different because the students were asked about teaching quality. That makes the placement particularly pleasing,« he says.

He also hopes that it will raise international awareness of Social Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.

»Researchers and students are increasingly mobile, and we are experiencing increased international competition when it comes to attracting the best candidates. A categorisation like this one is a great opportunity to increase awareness of good social science courses among prospective international students,« he explains in a press release.

luci@adm.ku.dk

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