UC Santa Cruz ranks fifth in the world for space sciences and is one of six University of California campuses ranked among the top 50 research universities overall, according to a study by U.S. News and World Report.
The publication’s 2018 Best Global Universities rankings evaluate 1,250 universities across 74 countries, up from 1,000 last year. This is the fourth year U.S. News has published its global rankings.
UC Santa Cruz at No. 47 joins five other UC campuses in the top 50. Berkeley was highest at No. 4 in the world followed by UCLA (13), UCSF (15), UC San Diego (16), and UC Santa Barbara (28). Close behind are Davis (52) and Irvine (75).
The rankings focus on the publication of academic research and on reputation. "The schools that rank the highest in the Best Global Universities rankings are those that emphasize academic research, including by partnering with international scholars to produce highly cited articles," said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News.
UC Santa Cruz ranked third in the world for the percentage of highly cited papers that are among the top 1 percent most cited. The campus was fourth for the percentage of total publications that are among the top 10 percent most cited.
UC Santa Cruz is listed at 13th for international collaboration besides being fifth in the world in space sciences.
The United States leads the rankings, with 221 universities making the overall list. The top four are U.S. universities, with Harvard University at No. 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is No. 2, followed by Stanford University at No. 3 and UC Berkeley at No. 4. University of Oxford is listed No. 5.
