The 2018 league table of the world’s most international universities celebrates institutions that have an outstanding international reputation, in turn helping to attract the very highest calibre of staff and students. The University of Sheffield is ranked 42nd out of the 800 leading universities worldwide. The rankings consider the "international outlook" of institutions, including levels of international staff, students and research co-authors, as well as universities' international reputations.
A place in the highly-regarded top 50 - which also includes Oxford, Cambridge and the leading universities in the U.S and Asia - marks a significant increase in Sheffield’s international reputation ranking in 2018. A key factor in this success has been the concerted effort at building overseas partnerships with the world's top universities and industry, efforts which open opportunities for staff and student exchange, research collaboration and inward investment in the local economy.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Keith Burnett – who has personally led the University's focus on global reputation and strategic partnerships, in particular in China – said: "The University of Sheffield has always been internationally minded but recently we have focused even more on the partnerships we know are crucial not only to our research but which will also create opportunities for our students and our region. As a result, the university is now working with four of the top five universities in China and our industrial partnerships are highly regarded around the world, with the AMRC also active in the U.S., China and South Korea.
"I am also deeply proud that The University of Sheffield is a global university with over 140 nationalities represented on campus and that our city has always made clear that staff and students from around the world are welcome. We know these students and staff make a huge contribution to academic life, knowledge and our economic growth as a nation as well as working in our local hospitals as trainee doctors, carrying out invaluable research into diseases like cancer and motor neurone disease, and also volunteering for charities."
Phil Baty, Editor at Times Higher Education, said: “The best universities in the world live or die by their ability to attract the brightest talent from all across the world - students, academics, researchers and managers. I believe that a university simply cannot be world class without a global outlook, a global network and a global pool of talent.”