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Why rankings matter

International rankings play an increasingly important role in how students, researchers, partners, employers, foundations, decision-makers, and society in general perceive SDU.

At SDU, we work systematically with rankings to ensure that the university’s quality, impact and strengths are documented correctly and made visible internationally.

How rankings support SDU

  • International visibility
    Helps external stakeholders recognise SDU's research and educational strengths.
  • Student recruitment
    Supports international recruitment and increases awareness of SDU among prospective students.
  • Research collaborations
    Increases SDU's visibility among potential research partners and international networks.
  • Attracting talent
    Supports the recruitment of researchers, PhD students and other highly qualified staff.
  • Funding and partnerships
    Contributes to SDU's international positioning among foundations and strategic partners.
  • Strategic benchmarking
    Provides insight into how SDU performs compared with relevant universities nationally and internationally, and supports strategic dialogue with ministries, agencies and public authorities.

How rankings and CoARA connect

In line with CoARA’s principles, rankings can support strategic insight and international visibility. They must not be used to assess research, researchers or research organisations, and research must not be governed by ranking positions.

SDU joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) in November 2022 and has since prepared an action plan for how the principles of responsible research assessment will be implemented across the University.

Commitment 2: Research assessment must primarily be based on qualitative evaluation, with peer review as a central element, supported by the responsible use of quantitative indicators.

Commitment 4: University rankings must not be used in the assessment of research, researchers, or research organisations.

CoARA does not mean that universities must withdraw from international rankings or stop working with them.

International rankings already play a role in the global university sector and influence how students, researchers, partners and other stakeholders find their way around universities worldwide.

Rankings can be used as a source of strategic insight and international visibility, as long as they are not used as a basis for assessing research, research environments or the performance of individual researchers.

SDU’s work with rankings focuses on making the research, programmes and international collaborations already taking place across the university visible. The aim is to ensure that they are represented as accurately as possible in the international university comparisons used globally.

See SDU’s CoARA action plan

Your contribution matters

Researchers, managers and administrative staff all play a role in making SDU’s strengths visible internationally. See how you can contribute to the work.

See how you can contribute

Contact

Contact SDU Analytics for help with university rankings, international contacts, researcher IDs and SDU affiliation.

Freja Rosenlund
International Ranking Officer
SDU Analytics
rankings@sdu.dk

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