AppliedHE Apologizes to and Congratulates Heidelberg University on its Rankometer Performance

On behalf of AppliedHE, I would like to apologize to the students, faculty, alumni and other valued community members and stakeholders of Heidelberg University (officially Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg). In the recently published AppliedHE Rankometer World University Rankings I failed to include Heidelberg University among the list of the world’s top-500 universities due to a data processing error. While to err is human, I am also fully aware of the consequences of this error, which removed Heidelberg University not only from the world ranking but also from the list of 37 German universities included in Rankometer. This gave the impression that Heidelberg University is not a top global nor a top German university. It is a mistake that I deeply regret and which was wholly unintentional.

To set the record straight, Heidelberg University should have been placed as 66^th in the World and 3^rd in Germany in Rankometer. Its Rankometer score of 463 points is based on its 64^th rank in the QS World University Rankings, its 57^th rank in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, its 42^nd rank in the THE World University Rankings, its 202^nd rank in the Leiden Rankings (PP 10%) and its 98^th rank in the Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: a strong showing across all five constituent rankings.

For Germany the correct Rankometer rankings are therefore as follows:

In order to try and correct the mistake, AppliedHE is updating its Rankometer page to now include Heidelberg University in its ranking tables (https://AppliedHE.com/rankometer), adding an erratum to its methodology page, issuing this public apology and correction and distributing it through AppliedHE Xtra! Xtra! and AppliedHE social media channels.

With regards to the cause of the data processing error: the algorithm used to match university names mistakenly identified the Heidelberg University as Heidelberg University (Ohio). Because of this error the Heidelberg University scored 1001 points in a number of rankings, thus lowering its Rankometer rank and excluding it from the top-500 institutions in Rankometer.

This error should have been noticed before publication of Rankometer, however it was not because only a limited share of the more than 5,000 data points used to compile Rankometer were manually re-checked. The name-matching algorithm has since been corrected to avoid recurrence of the error. I have also re-audited the Rankometer results to see if similar naming errors have occurred. I have been unable to find any further errors at this time.

Although this mistake only concerns a single institution, I am well aware that this error can undermine confidence in Rankometer and all AppliedHE evaluation tools. As the old Dutch saying goes: trust comes on foot, but leaves on horseback.  While it is no replacement for accuracy, this mistake re-enforces the need to be as transparent as possible with the use of data. Please note that the constituent ranking used to calculate the Rankometer score are also provided at https://AppliedHE.org/download/rankometer_top500_final.pdf.

Finally, allow me to thank the person who pointed out the discrepancy concerning the University of Newcastle in Rankometer. Your vigilance and interest in Rankometer are warmly appreciated.

Should any person have any further questions about Rankometer, please do not hesitate to contact AppliedHE. I would be more than happy to respond to any such inquiries.

Pieter E. Stek, Chief Analyst

Image by Peter H from Pixabay