The Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) was considered the second best higher education institution of Minas Gerais by the “U.S. News & World Report“, which evaluated 1,250 universities around the world. The UFJF also ranks 14th among Brazilian universities, 29th among Latin American universities and 831st in the world. In Brazil and Latin America, the University of São Paulo (USP) occupies the first position. In Minas Gerais, the UFJF stands out for the international collaboration in research, a criterion in which it is among the first 150 institutions.
The factors analyzed to determine the ranking prioritized the global reach, the regional reputation and the performance of the institution in academic research. In order to carry out this analysis, publications and citations of academic work were taken into account, as well as international collaboration in research. The data used were from the Web of Science and InCites platforms, developed by Clarivate Analytics.
Thirteen indicators, with different weights, form the ranking methodology. According to Michèle Farage, director of Institutional Evaluation, the majority of them, 11, are objective and based on the quantity and quality of the scientific production of the Universities. “The ranking classifies based on performance in international research and collaboration, as well as global and regional reputations. It indicates a good quality of our scientific production.”
The Deputy Dean of Postgraduate and Research, Luis Paulo da Silva Barra, considers that the ranking reflects the growth of the University’s scientific production, the positive evolution of the institution’s grades in the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes ) and the approval of new doctorates, which increase the possibility of improvement in the quality of UFJF research.
Barra also believes that the actions of the deanery have made possible the good result and indicate a chance of growth for the University research. “We highlight the hiring of visiting professors, the expansion of partnerships with foreign institutions for double degree, the doctoral program with reverse sandwich and the launch in 2019 of the edictal of visiting researchers. All of this contributes to enhancing research at the University, its relationship with institutions around the world and the collaboration of our faculty with foreign researchers.”
U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company, which aims to provide knowledge to facilitate decision making in people’s lives. The company is completing 85 years in 2018 and conducts ranking focused on education for more than three decades. In this edition, the first four universities on the list are located in the United States: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and University of California-Berkeley.