Best German University in Shanghai Ranking

Heidelberg University has garnered a first-place position among the German universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2014, also known as the Shanghai Ranking. Ruperto Carola succeeded in moving up from last year’s second-place ranking and now shares the best German university title with Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich. Heidelberg also fared better on the worldwide stage. Ruperto Carola ranked 49th in the world – as did LMU Munich – and thus bettered its score by five points compared to 2013. As in past years, only four German universities made the worldwide top 100 list. This year's Shanghai Ranking rates Ruperto Carola at 12th among universities in Europe, up two places from last year.

The Shanghai ranking especially measures an institution’s scientific influence, making research a key factor in the evaluation. Publications and citations in international scientific journals make up 40% of the total score, alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals 30%, most frequently cited researchers 20%, and academic performance based on the size of the university 10%.