1. Quality Assurance & University Rankings

2. Shanghai Ranking (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) THES (Times Higher Education Supplement) CHE Ranking »Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung«) Ranking of World Universities

3. Indicators – Shanghai Ranking Alumni. A lumni winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals. Alumni are defined as those who obtain bachelor, Master's or doctoral degrees from the institution. Different weights are set according to the periods of obtaining degrees. Award. The total number of the staff of an institution winning Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine and economics and Fields Medal in Mathematics. Staff is defined as those who work at an institution at the time of winning the prize. HiCi. The number of highly cited researchers in broad subject categories in life sciences, medicine, physical sciences, engineering and social sciences. N&S. The number of articles published in Nature and Science between 2002 and 2006. SCI. Total number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index-expanded, Social Science Citation Index in 2006 and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Size. The weighted scores of the above five indicators divided by the number of full-time equivalent academic staff.

4. CriteriaIndicatorCodeWeight Quality of Education Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals Alumni10% Quality of Institution Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals Award20% Highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories HiCi20% Research Output Articles published in Nature and Science * N&S20% Articles in Science Citation Index- expanded, Social Science Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index SCI20% Size of Institution Academic performance with respect to the size of an institution Size10% Total 100% Indicators - Shanghai Ranking (*For institutions specialized in humanities and social sciences such as London School of Economics, N&S is not considered, and the weight of N&S is relocated to other indicators)

5. Indicators (THES) CriteriaIndicatorsVeight "Peer review" Opinions of 5,101 experts, of whom 41 % are in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 30 % in the Americas, and 29 %in the Asia-Pacific region 40% Research excellence Number of citations by the number of full-time equivalent staff. 20% Size Staff-to-student ratio 20% Employer's view QS asks major global and national employers across the public and private sectors which universities they like to hire from. This year’s sample includes 1,471 people, with 43 per cent in the Americas, 32 per cent in Europe and 25 per cent in Asia-Pacific. 10% Number of International students Number of international students at institution 5% Number of staff who comes from other countries Number of international staff who comes from other countries at institution 5%

6. Job market and career-orientation The transition into the job market and the career orientation of the academic studies are important orientation points. Equipment CHE examined the quality of the equipment. Research It is determined how much third party funding is available, where the most doctor's degrees are undertaken and published and how many patents have been submitted. Overall opinions The future fellow students can give the best opinion on the state of the study conditions. The professors are also asked to name higher education institutions for their subject. International orientation Where are foreign language degree courses offered? How comprehensive is the offered range of foreign languages? CHE - Indicators

7. Result of study The average duration of studies and the average grade in exams are examined amongst other things. Study location and higher education institution An important question for prospective students: Where do I feel most comfortable? Students The size of the area of studies and the combination of the student body can also play a decisive role in the selection of a tertiary institution. Academic studies and teaching First-year students are interested in the opinion of professors and students of their faculty.

8. Recent Conferences in Shanghai (Oct.-Nov., 2007) "3 rd Meeting of the International Ranking Expert Group" "2 nd International Conference on World-Class Universities"

9. Talk given by Prof. I. Rozman, Rector of the University of Maribor “Improving Quality of Universities by World-University-Ranking in Slovenia and the Danube Region” Shanghai, November, 2007

10. E-mail: 30 th November 2007 At the Regional Board of "The Arab Quality Assurance and Accreditation Network" (A.Q.A.A.N.)* it has been discussed about “weak" ranking activity in the Middle-East and North Africa and the urgent need to launch an initiative on the "Rankings of Colleges and Universities" in these regions. Initiative to invite international experts and regional H.E. institutions to attend a preparatory meeting (February-March 2008), in order to agree on some kind of a "road map" in relation to the envisioned initiative. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *The Arab Quality Assurance and Accreditation Network is an international non-profit and independent association established recently in Belgium (kindly find the attached records in relation to AQAAN registration).

11. QA & University Rankings - QA contains more aspects (more comprehensive) - contains also qualitative criteria - can be more advisory - but, it usually contains less international competition (quality driving force) Additional Criteria of national importance (national QAA) - e.g. UM – international orientation - importance of interdisciplinar studies