We are proud to present the second edition of the European Ranking of Engineering Programs EngiRank. Judging by the huge response to the recently published reports on the future of competitive and technological Europe, the timing of our ranking couldn’t be better.

The report “The future of European competitiveness – A competitiveness strategy for Europe”, prepared by a team led by Mario Draghi, raises the alarm about the growing competitiveness gap between Europe and the US and China.

The report "Align, Act, Accelerate - Research, technology and innovation to boost European competitiveness" published by the European Commission high-level expert group chaired by Manuel Heitor (Prof. Anders Overgaard Bjarklev, Rector of DTU is one of the co-authors) presents a bold vision for transforming European research and innovation, to boost competitiveness and secure Europe's leadership in science and technology.

But none of the actions proposed in these reports will succeed if Europe does not have highly educated engineers – and in sufficient numbers. To educate these engineers is the task of European universities of technology – operating in competitive environment. Young Europeans, while choosing their Alma Mater, must know how good are studies offered by individual universities. In this respect, rankings are irreplaceable.

According to the analysis by the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence, at least 100 solid university rankings are published every year; these are: international, regional, national, disciplinary (by subject), impact rankings, business school rankings and others. At the same time, rankings have incitingly been criticized, especially global rankings (THE and QS are the most criticized). Why then did we come up with this new ranking?

To make the answer short: because this ranking is needed. Students need it when planning to study or go on an Erasmus program, European companies need it, as well as the international academic community. EngiRank is also a voice in the discourse on the future of European industry. Indirectly, it injects into dispute on international rankings. We are convinced that the future of rankings belongs to regional rankings "by subject".

Ours is a European ranking, it covers 27 European Union member states, plus Norway and Switzerland (it does not include the United Kingdom). By evaluating universities in countries with a similar legal system, similar cultural origins, universities participating in the EU programs such as Erasmus+ and Horizon, EngiRank offers best possible presentation of universities’ strengths and weaknesses.

All European countries need top-class engineers, this is a need of utmost urgency! Only in the IT area in Europe there is a shortage of almost 2 million engineers... Global technological competition has not slowed down, in this field those count who run faster. Engineering education plays a key role in ensuring the sustainable development of Europe, it is essential in creating innovative technologies and educating creative engineers who can use science to solve problems, but who also are aware of the social consequences of their actions.

What is innovative about EngiRank?

First. The combination of the regional ranking with the “by subject” ranking is innovative. There already are some regional rankings – but mostly they are "extracts" from the overall THE or QS rankings. To use data in individual disciplines on a regional basis, and in relation to universities operating in a specific region, has not yet been done! EngiRank inaugurates this new, forward-looking approach.

Second. For the first time, we are publishing a ranking with emphasis on "by subject". We are publishing seven of them, all related to the "Engineering & Technology". The quality of these “by subjects” rankings constitute the “interdisciplinarity” criterion, which is included in the institutional university ranking with a high weight of 21 percent. A university to be included in the institutional EngiRank, it had to appear in at least three "by subject" rankings.

Third. EngiRank is a PRO BONO ranking, it has not been made to make money but with public benefit in mind. Critics of global rankings focus on allegations that universities are "forced" to scrupulously collect data, data that ranking organizations then "privatize", and include in packages sold to universities. EngiRank, however, uses only external data (exogenous) and does not offer any related database services. We are principled in this matter, in line with the mission of the Perspektywy Education Foundation, which is a not-for-profit organization, with a 25 years’ tradition.

Fourth. Due to the goals of EngiRank and its strictly defined area of education and research, the ranking focuses on criteria and indicators related to relations between academia and industry. Five indicators try to capture and highlight universities that not only conduct research but are able to do it in cooperation with the industry, and to effectively implement the results in Hi Tech companies.

Fifth. Into the ranking we introduced a dynamic citation impact change index (FWCI), a novelty in academic rankings. Instead of considering only the static state of citations in the four-year period immediately preceding the publication of the ranking, we refer to the result in the preceding four-year period, which gives an opportunity to distinguish universities that have made the greatest progress in research.

Sixth. A pioneering in the world of rankings is the inclusion in the "by subject" rankings, with a significant weight of 10 percent, accreditations of engineering programs by the ENAEE (European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education).

Seventh. EngiRank is published in absolute transparency, in the best possible form. Each ranking user has access to all indicators and can independently check the correctness of calculations. There also is a procedure for quick fixing errors should such be reported after the ranking publication. All ranking results, including options for convenient sorting by universities, countries, disciplines, criteria and indicators are available on the EngiRank website www.engirank.eu. Comments and suggestions regarding EngiRank 2024 will be used when preparing of the 2025 ranking.

Waldemar Siwiński
Founder, Perspektywy Education Foundation
Head of EngiRank