Virginia Tech holds its place as one of the top universities in the world, according to the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings  released this week. Measuring global universities in five core assessment pillars – including teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook – Virginia Tech ranks in the band of 251-300 of 800 institutions in 41 countries.

Virginia Tech ranks 79 of only 147 U.S. universities to be placed in the top 400. Among the five indicators, research continues to be the university's strongest category. To determine that category, the group evaluates a university's reputation for research excellence among its peers, based on responses to an annual academic reputation survey.

Virginia Tech routinely ranks high in several national and world university rankings including the US News and World Report Best Colleges and the QS World University Rankings. President Timothy D. Sands and the Beyond Boundaries visioning committee have cited the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as one of the most complete metrics that can be used to benchmark Virginia Tech's international profile. 

In his inaugural speech, Sands said of Virginia Tech's increasingly prominent research rankings that they are not goals unto themselves, but they are "a reflection of our impact and momentum, and a signal to talented people everywhere that we are a university in action."

He predicted the university "will become a top-100 global research institution," pointing to a research "publication rate increasing by a factor of more than four," with research citations growing even faster. He also identified the university's need to "become increasingly competitive globally for talent. Attaining top-100 status will gain the attention of those talented individuals and potential partners."

This year – drawing on data from 1,100 institutions, 11 million academic papers, and more than 11,000 academic surveys – Times Higher Education World University Rankings introduced THEDataPoints, markers designed to serve as tools for understanding  performance that allow universities to investigate and compare themselves with peer institutions.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

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