Rank 46 out of 20,531: According to the World University Rankings, LMU Munich is among the top 0.3 percent of the world's best universities. Within the EU, it ranks 8th. In Germany, it is the best university, followed by Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. TUM, in turn, ranks 78th in the global ranking, placing it among the top 0.4 percent. It ranks 14th in the EU, and 5th in Germany.
The global list is led by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Stanford University. The top three in the EU are Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Université Paris Saclay, and Copenhagen University.
Differences between rankings
What is striking about the World University Ranking is that the Technical University ranks a good 30 places behind the Ludwig Maximilian University. In other rankings, however, the TU is ahead, and the gap between the two is smaller. For example, the TUM ranks QS World University Ranking 49th place, while LMU is ranked 59th. In the university ranking of the British magazine Times Higher Education The Technical University ranks 30th globally, while LMU ranks 33rd. And in Shanghai Ranking Only one place separates the two universities, with TUM ranking 56th and LMU 57th.
This difference can be attributed, among other things, to the scope of the individual rankings. The QS World University Ranking covers just under 1,500 educational institutions, the Times Higher Education Ranking covers 1,800 universities, and the Shanghai Ranking covers around 2,500 universities. The World University Ranking, on the other hand, covers more than 20,500. Furthermore, a look at the total points achieved shows that LMU, with 85 out of 100 possible points, and TUM, with 82.9 out of 100 possible points, are closer to each other than their 30-place difference would suggest.
Furthermore, the World University Ranking focuses purely on outcome-oriented factors, such as the number of alumni and faculty members who have received academic awards and the number of publications. The QS ranking, for example, incorporates additional factors into its evaluation, such as how universities prepare students for successful careers and the student-to-faculty ratio.
