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 801^st-1000^th 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 631^st–640^th in the global ranking (last year 651^st–700^th). position in the global ranking.

Palacký University is ranked 219^th 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 9^th 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 601^st to 700^th 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 601^st-700^th position, which means a split 3^rd 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 473^th 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 611^th, and 253^rd in the European ranking. Within the Czech Republic, Palacký University is ranked 3^rd, 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.

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 555^th 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 591^st 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 159^th in Europe and 383^rd 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 127^th place in Europe.