Each year, U.S. News publishes rankings of the “Best Global Universities,” designed to provide international context for a university’s academic research and reputation. Surveys and metrics are used to rank the top 1250 institutions spanning 74 countries and also to assess the strengths of 22 subject areas.
For the subject area of microbiology, UNC currently ranks 11th among universities worldwide, up from its rank of 20th four years ago (when U.S. News started publishing these rankings). Compared with our peer institutions (U.S. public universities), UNC now ranks 5th in microbiology.
For the subject area of immunology, UNC ranks 21st among universities worldwide, up from its rank of 24th four years ago. Compared with our peer institutions, UNC now ranks 4th in immunology.
The numbers above reflect our steadily growing research reputation that is echoed in other rankings (see https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4447244/4447244-6231664963082084352).
You are probably familiar with the U.S. News “Best Grad Schools,” which rank programs based only on subjective surveys of department Chairs and graduate program Directors. In contrast, these new “Best Global Universities” rankings are based on 13 indicators that measure reputation, publications and their citations, and international collaboration (see https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/articles/methodology).