UMONS – the Top Francophone University of Belgium in the Shanghai Ranking for Materials Science/Engineering and Chemistry

On a global level, UMONS ranks between 201st and 300th for Materials Science and Engineering, and between 301st-400th for Chemistry and Physics.

This year, the University of Mons has once again distinguished itself in the Shanghai World University Ranking by subject/field. This ranking was published in May 2021.

In this Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), which publishes a list of the 1000 “best universities in the world” based on a single score, UMONS ranks very highly in three areas in particular:

• Materials Science and Engineering (between 201st and 300th place in the world)
• Chemistry (301-400th)
• Physics (301-400th).

On a national level, an analysis of the situation according to each indicator reveals that:

• In Materials Science, UMONS is the leading Belgian university for international publications (IC) and for the “Citation Impact” (CNCI) indicator.
• In Chemistry, UMONS is the leading Belgian university for international publications (IC) and for the “Citation Impact” indicator (CNCI). It is thus the leading Francophone university in the country for this field.
• In Physics, UMONS ranks second among Belgian universities for the “Citation Impact” (CNCI) indicator and third for international publications (IC).

The relevance of some of the Shanghai ranking indicators, which are determined by the size of the institutions evaluated, is questionable, and this could lead to some bias against universities such as ours. UMONS’ presence in the ranking by field should therefore be viewed as proof of the excellence of our researchers, particularly in these three specific fields. These results, which focus on scientific productivity, undoubtedly attest to the quality of their work,” says Prof. Philippe Dubois, Rector of UMONS.

“For several years, research at the University of Mons has been structured around 10 institutes, which has enabled the pooling of vital resources in key sectors at our University. Among these, the Materials Institute, which groups together more than 185 researchers from the Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and Pharmacy, has been rewarded for all its research activities conducted with numerous international collaborators. This is clearly quite encouraging for all the 900 researchers at UMONS to continue down this path,” emphasises Ruddy Wattiez, Vice-Rector for Research.

For more information on the indicators, visit: Shanghai Ranking