The Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) has ranked among the most successful Czech universities in the latest edition of the Leiden Ranking. It is one of only two Czech universities with an above-average share of highly cited publications by global standards. It also ranks first in the country for the proportion of papers among the world’s top 10% most cited.
CZU’s results at a glance
- 2nd place in the Czech Republic for the share of publications among the world’s top 1% most cited, just behind BUT
- 1st place in the Czech Republic for the share of publications among the top 10% most cited (9.6%)
- 2nd place in the Czech Republic for international collaboration (69.8% of publications)
- 3rd place in the Czech Republic for overall collaboration (87.0% of publications)
- 4th place in the Czech Republic for open access (71.7% of publications)
- 1st place among Czech universities in natural sciences
What the Leiden Ranking measures
Compiled by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University, the Leiden Ranking differs significantly from better-known university rankings such as QS, THE and ARWU. Rather than assessing reputation or teaching, it focuses exclusively on the impact of research publications and other aspects of universities’ research performance. This year’s edition is based on the Web of Science database, covers more than 1,600 universities worldwide and includes ten Czech institutions. It assesses four areas: scientific impact, collaboration, open access and gender diversity.
Scientific impact: among the country’s best
The key indicator is the share of publications that rank among the most highly cited worldwide. CZU came second in the proportion of publications in the first percentile – that is, among the top 1% most cited papers – just behind Brno University of Technology (BUT). These are the only two Czech universities whose share of publications in this top group exceeds 1%, putting them above the global average.
Overall, Czech universities performed less well in this assessment than in the previous edition. While seven Czech institutions achieved above-average results last year, only two did so this time, and CZU is one of them.
CZU also performed strongly in the share of publications in the first decile, or the top 10% most cited papers. No Czech university reached the 10% threshold this year, but CZU came closest. With a score of 9.6%, it ranks first among Czech universities.
International collaboration
This indicator measures the proportion of publications produced in collaboration with authors from other institutions. CZU ranked second in the Czech Republic for international collaboration: nearly seven out of ten of its publications (69.8%) were produced with partners from abroad. The only university ahead of it was VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, with 70.8%.
In terms of overall collaboration, which includes both domestic and international partners, CZU ranked third. Its share of 87.0% places it just behind Charles University (87.1%), a difference of only 0.1 percentage points, and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (92.6%).
Open access and diversity
In the open access indicator, which covers publications freely available to all readers, CZU ranked fourth among Czech universities. A total of 71.7% of its publications are published on an open-access basis. The university ranked seventh for gender diversity in research author teams.
A strong position in natural sciences
At the subject-area level, CZU is among the leading Czech universities in natural sciences. It ranks first in the country in the first percentile (1.2%), ahead of the University of South Bohemia, and also in the first decile (10.4%). In the latter category, it is the only Czech university performing above the global average.
