A student who is progressing little, but who has good assets. France again places four universities in the Top 100 in the Shanghai ranking, published this Friday, which is still dominated by American universities (Harvard, Stanford, MIT…). In a joint press release, the Ministries of Education and Higher Education, underline that “France is again positioned in the 11th rank in the world in number of classified establishments” because in total, 27 Bleu Blanc Rouge establishments appear in the Top 1,000.
“This confirms the good performance of French research. Our results are all the more deserving since France invests 2.1 % of its GDP in research and innovation, compared to 3.5 % for Germany. And Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, the United States, invest a lot that we in this field, ”explains Lamri Adoui, president of France Universités.
Paris-Saclay Super Star
Paris-Saclay, which wins the thirteenth place in the world, is crowned best French university in the ranking and third on a European scale. Follow Paris Sciences Lettres (PSL, 34th), Sorbonne University (43rd) and Paris Cité (60th). Only downside: apart from the last, which maintains its position last year, all fell with a few places. Eight other universities are among the Top 200: Strasbourg, Aix-Marseille, Grenoble-Alpes and Montpellier. Another positive point: two new French universities incorporate the top 1,000 this year: Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Picardie-Jules-Verne Amiens.
Since 2003, this classification made since by the independent firm Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, takes into account six criteria to identify the 1,000 best world universities, mainly based on research and not on the quality of training. The number of Nobel and Fields medals (considered as the Nobel of Mathematics) among graduates and teachers are observed, the number of researchers most cited in their discipline and the number of publications in the journals Science et Nature.
“The excellence of our research” praised by Borne
The French results “testify to the excellence of our research,” said the Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research, Elisabeth Borne. Another factor of explanation: funding dedicated to research in recent years, from investment programs for the future (PIA) and France 2030. As well as the regrouping and mergers policy of higher education establishments implemented since 2018. Paris-Saclay has thus become a colossus comprising “five faculties, three IUT, five major schools, two associated member universities and seven research organizations”, as its site describes it.
“France has acquired a few champions that can weigh in international competition. And the regrouping policy has made it possible to build quality multidisciplinary sets. Some universities have also developed ambitious recruitment policies. Which pays for both innovation and number of publications, ”analyzes Lamri Adoui.
“It would take an investment shock”
To further improve the French scores, the Minister has set objectives: “Better targeting private funding for innovation, reducing the administrative burden for researchers and maintaining the ambition of the research programming law”, she specifies on X.
According to Lamri Adoui, so that France really progresses in the ranking, “it would take an extremely important investment shock in higher education and research”. A hypothesis which seems unlikely given the state of finances of France.
It remains to be seen whether Donald Trump’s budget cuts policy on research will have consequences for the next Shanghai rankings. “For 2025 ranking, these are publications in Science et Nature Between 2018 and 2022 which were taken into account. So the impact of what is happening today in the United States will be seen within 2 to 3 years, ”says Lamri Adoui.
