U-Multirank is a multidimensional, user-driven approach to international ranking of higher education institutions. It compares the performances of higher education institutions – in short: universities – in the five dimensions of university activity: (1) teaching and learning, (2) research, (3) knowledge transfer, (4) international orientation and (5) regional engagement. The U-Multirank web tool enables comparisons at the level of the university as a whole and at the level of specific study programmes. Based on empirical data, U-Multirank compares institutions with similar institutional profiles (‘like-with-like’) and allows users to develop their own personalised rankings by selecting indicators in terms of their own preferences.
Based on the results of a feasibility study covering 150 universities which was carried out in 2010/11, the European Commission decided to fund the implementation of U-Multirank. This roll out is carried out by a consortium led by Professor Frans van Vught of the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente in the Netherlands and Professor Frank Ziegele of the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) in Germany as well as the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) from Leiden University, and the Spanish Fundacion CYD. U-Multirank is funded by the European Commission, the Bertelsmann Foundation and Banco Santander. The consortium also works closely with a range of national ranking partners and stakeholder organisations. The work of the U-Multirank consortium is overseen by an Advisory Board.
The first U-Multirank ranking was the 2014 edition, covering 850 higher education institutions from more than 70 countries. It provided a ranking at the institutional level as a whole as well as at the level of specific fields of study. Thereafter, the coverage of institutions and subject areas was expanded each year. The 2022 edition covers 2,202 institutions from 96 countries and and a series of 30 subject rankings.