UP in International Rankings

Palacký University Olomouc (UP) has repeatedly scored in prestigious international rankings comparing global universities in recent years. Such rankings evaluate the scientific performance of universities, based on Scopus and the Web of Science databases. Most of the rankings take into account the quality of teaching, internationalisation of the university, co-operation with industry and non-academic sphere, etc. Reputation of science, reseach and teaching of the university is significant for rankings too.

One of the most renowned global rankings of universities, The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking, evaluating universities in several areas (education, scientific environment, quality of research, cooperation with industry and internationalisation), the university entered for the first time in 2015. In the most recent edition of the World University Rankings 2024, Palacký University improved its position, ranking 801st-1000th and thus returning to the top 1000 universities in the world.

In 2016 Palacký University has been included in the prestigeous international QS World University Rankings. This ranking includes almost 1500 universities, among which the Czech Republic has sixteen representatives this year. Palacký University improved its position in the 2024 edition, ranking 631st–640th in the global ranking (last year 651st–700th). position in the global ranking.

Palacký University is ranked 219th in the QS World University Rankings: Europe, which replaces the original QS Emerging Europe & Central Asia from 2023 and compares European universities from 42 member countries of the Council of Europe in 12 indicators. It ranked 9th in Eastern Europe.

In 2017, Palacký University placed on the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, or Shanghai Ranking) for the first time, occupied 601st to 700th position, and is featured in all the so-called "Great Three" rankings - together with Shanghai rankings are THE World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings. In the latest edition for the year 2023, Palacký University in Olomouc improved its position, moving up 100 places to 601st-700th position, which means a split 3rd place in the Czech Republic. The Czech number one remains Charles University in Prague. In the context of ARWU, Palacký University has also scored other partial first places in recent years. The Faculty of Physical Culture of Palacký University has held the position of the Czech number one in the Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments since the very beginning in 2016. In the latest edition for 2022, FTK was ranked 151st-200th in this global ranking of sport science universities.

The placement of Palacký University among the world’s top universities was confirmed by the journal U.S. News & World Report, featuring the world-renowned U. S. News and World Report Best Global Universities Rankings. In the 2015 edition of the rankings, UP has stepped up to the 473th position among the 800 most respected universities, jumping fifteen positions compared to last year. There are 2,000 universities in the most recent rankings released in 2022, 250 more than last year. Out of the 2,165 institutions from more than 90 countries, Palacký University was ranked 611th, and 253rd in the European ranking. Within the Czech Republic, Palacký University is ranked 3rd, behind the second Masaryk University and the first Charles University.

The U-Multirank presents a slightly different concept of ranking of areas related to educational and teaching activities, research, knowledge transfer, the level of internationalization and regional engagement. Although at first glance it does not differ significantly from the above-mentioned charts, it is unique in its approach. U-Multirank does not evaluate the overall score but allows the user to choose an important criterion for him to compare the university with a competitive university environment.

Other rankings

Also of interest is Cross Ranking, which is published under the Education Policy Centre of Charles University's Faculty of Education and links the assessment of the three rankings mentioned above to the so-called The Big Three (THE, QS, Shanghai). In the latest edition, in 2019, Palacký University improved 62 places when it took 555th position. Overall, 17 domestic universities scored in this ranking.

In the ranking of the world’s best universities provided by The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), In the 2023 ranking Palacký University was ranked 591st and is still in the TOP 600 in the world and TOP 3 in the Czech Republic. The one thousand best ranked universities represent a mere 3 percent of all the universities in the world.

Thanks to the high number of excellent scientific publications and strong cooperation with foreign researchers, UP has also succeeded in the international CWTS Leiden Ranking 2023. Based on the scientific impact of publications, Palacký University is ranked 159th in Europe and 383rd in the world among the one percent of the most cited publications, and is also the leading Czech university. Our university also performs very well in the field of international cooperation, where it even reached 127th place in Europe.

Rankings on sustainability and SDGs

As sustainability, social responsibility and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become embedded in university strategies and plans, rankings have begun evaluating universities in these areas. The following three global university sustainability rankings are currently the most important and worth mentioning:

The first sustainability ranking that Palacký University Olomouc took part in was the 2019 Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, the first ever edition of this ranking. UP was listed in this ranking from the very beginning, placing 101st–200th out of 467 institutions evaluated. In the most recent edition for 2023, the ranking already includes 1,591 universities, among which Palacký University is ranked 301st-400th. This ranking also means the third place in the Czech Republic, just behind Charles University and the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, which together hold the shared position of the Czech number one.

Since 2021, UP has been part of the Green Metrics ranking, run by the University of Indonesia. Since 2010, it has been evaluating the extent to which universities develop their infrastructure and education with respect to the environment and sustainability principles. Palacký University was listed in the ranking for the first time in 2021, when it ranked 642nd out of 956 universities from 80 countries. In 2022, UP moved up 100 places to rank 546th out of 1,050 universities worldwide.

The most recent sustainability ranking in which the Olomouc’s university has been listed is the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability. This ranking focuses on the social and environmental sustainability performance of higher education institutions and is published by Quacquarelli Symonds since 2022. In total, 700 universities were ranked in the first edition, four of which were from the Czech Republic. Palacký University ranked 451st–500th.

The latest sustainability ranking in which Palacký University Olomouc is benchmarked is the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability. This ranking focuses on the performance of higher education institutions in the areas of Social Impact, Environmental Impact and Good Governance and has been published by Quacquarelli Symonds since 2022. Palacký University has improved its position in the latest edition compared to last year (422nd place), despite a twofold increase in the number of universities ranked. It also ranked among the TOP 200 universities in Governance and among the TOP 500 universities in Social Impact.


  2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 501-600 501-600 701-800 701-800 601-700
U. S. News Best Global Universities Rankings 519 529 568 611  
THE World University Rankings 601–800 601-800 801–1000 1001–1200 800–1000
QS World University Rankings 601–650 591–600 601–650 651–700 631–640
The Center of World University Rankings (CWUR) 572 573 572 566 591

The results of international rankings are given according to the year of the ranking.

Privacy settings

We use cookies and any other network identifiers on our website that may contain personal data (e.g. about how you browse our website). We and some of the service providers we use have access to or store this data on your device. This data helps us to operate and improve our services. For some purposes, your consent is required to process data collected in this way. You can change or revoke your consent at any time (see the link at the bottom the page).

(Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the website to function properly.)
(Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.)
(They are designed for promotional purposes, measuring the success of promotional campaigns, etc.)