The European Rankings of Engineering Programmes EngiRank fills a gap in current and trustworthy information on engineering education, as well as research and innovation, in European universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) with a strong engineering profile.
Our main concern in developing EngiRank was to ensure the highest reliability of the rankings. The geographical scope of EngiRank covers the European Union, Norway and Switzerland. One of the reasons for this coverage of the rankings is related to the right of EU citizens to study in other Member States under the same conditions as nationals.
Another factor considered essential for the credibility of the EngiRank is the quality and reliability of the data – the rankings are based only on trustworthy external databases containing information on European HEIs collected in a uniform way, such as the Scopus bibliographic database, the EPO Worldwide Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT), information on participation in European Commission initiatives (Community Research and Development Information Service - CORDIS, European Education Area website), databases of programmes accredited by quality assurance agencies. No information needed to compile the rankings was collected directly from the HEIs.
In designing the EngiRank, we paid particular attention to the degree of commitment of institutions to their economic and social missions.
EngiRank is a composite of different categories of indicators focusing on scale, efficiency, and dynamics:
Research output volume, research and innovation funding, number of patents, and publications related to sustainable development goals.
Citations per publication, share of publications in top 10% journals, patent citations per publication, percentage of industry co-authored publications.
Change in citation impact - a novelty in university rankings measuring institutional development trajectory.
The EngiRank rankings are modelled on the basis of the Multi-Attribute Value Theory.
Institutions must meet specific qualitative and quantitative criteria to be included in the EngiRank rankings.
Institutions included in the EngiRank have been checked against the European Engineering Education Database (EEED) maintained by ENGINEERS EUROPE, a federation of professional engineering associations from 33 EHEA countries.
At least 30% of publications in the last 5 years (2019-2023) indexed in Scopus must be in engineering and technology (E&T). Institutions with a majority of publications in medical and health sciences or social sciences are not considered.
Minimum number of publications in main engineering disciplines (2019-2023):
Includes HEIs that meet both quantitative conditions: a share of publications in E&T of at least 30% and a number of publications in a given discipline of at least the threshold value.
Includes HEIs that are classified in at least three subject rankings, ensuring broad engineering capability.
The institutional ranking is based on five criteria, with Research (28%) and Innovation (25%) being the most important, together accounting for 53% of the ranking.
This criterion is made up of four indicators taken from the Scopus bibliographic database.
Number of publications from 2019-2023 in the field Engineering and technology (FORD classification) in Scopus affiliated with the institution.
Percentage of institution's publications published in top 10% journals by CiteScore in Engineering and technology (2019-2023).
Ratio of citations received by institution's publications (2019-2023) to the number of these publications.
Ratio of FWCI of publications in 2019-2023 to FWCI of publications in 2014-2018 in Engineering and technology.
The criterion consists of four indicators measuring research funding, patents, and collaboration.
Value of grants awarded under EU framework programmes (2019-2023) adjusted for PPP.
Number of patents granted by the European Patent Office in 2019-2023. Note: Swedish universities receive adjusted scoring due to different IP ownership laws.
Average number of patent citations received per scholarly outputs in E&T (2019-2023).
Percentage of publications co-authored with researchers outside academia (2019-2023).
Single indicator measuring institution's contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 9.
Number of publications from 2019-2023 simultaneously assigned to UN SDG 9 and to Engineering and technology field.
The criterion is made up of three indicators measuring international collaboration and partnerships.
Percentage of publications with co-authors from multiple countries (2019-2023).
Citation impact of publications with international co-authorship.
Binary flag for membership in any European university alliance as of August 2024.
The criterion linking the institutional ranking with the subject rankings. This criterion rewards institutions that are classified in a larger number of subject rankings and that achieve higher scores in these rankings.
Scores obtained by HEIs in subject rankings, with 3% weight allocated for each of the seven subject areas.
EngiRank provides rankings in seven engineering disciplines, combining research, innovation, teaching quality, and – for selected fields – contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Subject rankings are calculated independently for each discipline. For chemical, electrical, materials, and mechanical engineering, rankings are based on three criteria: Research (64%), Innovation (26%) and Teaching Quality (10%).
For civil, environmental and medical engineering, an additional Contribution to SDGs criterion (5%) is included, with other criteria adjusted accordingly.
Measured by the number of engineering programmes accredited by ENAEE-authorised agencies (EUR-ACE label) or ABET, valid in 2024. Where institutions have more than 8 accreditations, all institutions with at least 8 receive a score of 100.
For Civil, Environmental and Medical Engineering rankings an additional SDG indicator is used:
| Discipline | Publ. | Top10% | Citations | Impact Δ | Collab. | Funding | Accred. | SDG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical Eng. | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 10% | 10% | – |
| Civil Eng. | 15% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 5% |
| Electrical / IT Eng. | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 10% | 10% | – |
| Environmental Eng. | 15% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 5% |
| Materials Eng. | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 10% | 10% | – |
| Mechanical Eng. | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 16% | 10% | 10% | – |
| Medical Eng. | 15% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 5% |
ENAEE is a non-profit organisation that brings together accreditation and quality assurance agencies from different countries (mostly EU Member States) and provides a pan-European framework for the accreditation of engineering education programmes. ENAEE has established the EUR-ACE (European Accredited Engineer) label, although it does not directly accredit engineering programmes.
Following a positive evaluation of the policies and procedures followed by the member accreditation and quality assurance agencies, ENAEE authorises them to award the EUR-ACE label to engineering programmes accredited by these agencies. At present, 15 agencies are authorised by ENAEE; they have signed a mutual recognition agreement, known as the EUR-ACE Accord, whereby they accept each other's accreditation decisions in respect of bachelor's and master's degree programmes.
ABET is a non-governmental organisation founded in the United States in 1932. There are currently 4,674 post-secondary education programmes in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineering technology accredited by ABET in 920 institutions in 42 countries (including Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain).