Study destinations in New Europe you may not have considered – rankings

30 Apr 2018

When you think of studying in Europe, you probably conjure up images of Paris, Berlin and Barcelona…

What you might not think of is the rolling hills and clean air of Estonia, a small island with heaps of soul in the form of Cyprus, or the medieval towns of Czech Republic.

How about the bustling towns of Hungary, steeped with history, or the picturesque cobbled streets of Poland’s old towns?

What about Croatia? Lithuania? Romania and Slovakia? Have you considered Latvia or Bulgaria?

‘New Europe’ refers to the 13 nations which have joined the European Union (EU) since 2004 and among them are some seriously underrated study destinations.

The Times Higher Education recently released its rankings of the best research-intensive universities in New Europe, measuring the teaching, research, citation, and industry and international reputation of New Europe’s many higher education institutions.

The top 10 institutions in New Europe

Rank	Institution	Country	Teaching score	Research score	Citation score	Industry score	Interna-tional score	Overall score
1	University of Tartu	Estonia	24.5	25.3	83.6	33.5	50.4	44.6
2	Cyprus University of Technology	Cyprus	17.8	13.8	88.6	33	69.9	42.1
3	University of Cyprus	Cyprus	20.8	25	63.1	48.1	76.8	39.6
4	Charles University in Prague	Czech Republic	29	22	56.3	32.1	55.6	37.2
5	Semmelweis University	Hungary	22.6	11.9	61.5	34.4	73.8	35.2
6	University of Warsaw	Poland	25.9	18.3	47.1	32.4	44.6	31.5
7	Masaryk University	Czech Republic	22.2	22.7	42.8	33.7	56.3	31.4
8	University of Split	Croatia	16.8	12.5	60.3	33.5	41.7	30.9
9	University of Maribor	Slovenia	18.9	15.3	49	39.2	36.7	28.7
10	Palacký University Olomouc	Czech Republic	19.3	12.2	45	32.5	54.6	27.9

The University of Tartu in Estonia came first in the new table, also ranking number one for its research environment.

Second and third places were nabbed by two institutions in Cyprus; Cyprus University of Technology and University of Cyprus, with the latter securing the top spot for industry income and international outlook.

University leaders from central Europe addressed the challenges of quality, populism, academic freedom and more at the THE Research Excellence Summit: New Europe at @UPOlomouc
See highlights here https://t.co/cBAxrC7ygG #ResearchEX #NewEurope

— Times Higher Education (@timeshighered) April 26, 2018

It is unsurprising Czech Republic is the most represented country in the rankings – 13 out of 53 – as its reputation grows as quickly as its international student population. Overall, Prague’s Charles University comes in at number four with first place for its teaching.

Poland is not far behind Czech Republic, scoring 12 of the spots, followed by Hungary with seven, and Romania with five.

The top 30 also feature Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia and Bulgaria. The full table includes a total of 53 institutions and follows the same methodology as THE World University Rankings.