各种大学排名,以凑热闹为主,经不起严谨的推敲。
2010年2月,《美国新闻与世界报道》称北京大学在生命科学与生物医学排全球第19。如果能信几个记者(不管是白人记者、还是中国记者)瞎蒙的结果,我们已经是超过加州理工学院、Duke、普林斯顿的世界一流,可以半夜从梦中笑醒,他们该向我们学习。
上海交通大学的高等教育研究院有一个“世界一流大学研究中心”。
这个中心看起来真把排名作为其最主要(或者最知名)的课题,仔细收集资料,每年更新。如果是作为学术研究,可能对结果如履薄冰,不敢轻易全球发布,而从它热衷炒作来看,其模式更像热衷商业运作:不怕错的被人笑话,而怕没人关心其产品。
8月15日,“世界一流大学研究中心”在交大网站以外独立发布了它
2010年度的世界一流大学学术排名,而且按学科分开列表,煞有介事。
仔细一看,它得出的结果,并不比国外记者的好多少。它列出的表,仍然不能代替懂行专家、代替学生自己了解。
以为在评价和判断学术相关的优劣,可以有“客观”标准,能够代替主观判断,也许是缘木求鱼?
如果各个学校什么时候真的开始激烈竞争在交大排名榜的位置,就像为了在SCI“名列前茅”一样如火如荼,最直接的后果是加剧急功近利。
而如果学生、或者学生家长用这些排名来决定到什么学校念本科或者研究生,那就冒着为“误导”做活生生注释的危险。
以生命科学排名来说,一般可能以为学科排名可以给选择研究生学校做参考。但是,如果仔细看,就很难用这个所谓“客观”的排名:因为即使生命科学的全貌,这个表格也有不少出人意料之处,使之失效。
不可思议的是,这个表格把Duke的生物远远排到UIUC后面,Ohio State
University排到University of Chicago前面去。
而将分子生物学极强的Princeton大学放到五十开外,需要的不是一般、而是极端的创造性。
每年中国学生申请美国Brandeis研究生的很少,而Brandeis有几个领域非常强,Brandeis的中国毕业生骆利群,现在是Stanford
的教授,而Stanford学生物的中国研究生,几十年来没有一个做了Harvard、Stanford的教授。,但是Brandeis和另外一个有特长的
University of Colorado at
Boulder,都不在排名的前100。事实上,如果中国某所大学,在有些领域赶上这两所大学,会是了不起的进步。中国学生喜爱有些领域的到这两所大学也会有很好的收获。
中国学生申请Rockefeller研究生的也不多,而Rockefeller的生物非常强,懂生物医学的人不可能将Rockefeller和
Wisconsin并列。而UC Berkeley不可能出前五,Washington
University不会出前十。也不可能将University of Washington排在前四。
自己懂脑筋的学生,会有更好的选择。选研究生的学校,不仅需要了解全貌,最好要了解具体领域。不用这个表格,也不依赖其他排名名单,更好。
各个大学就更不能以这种排名作为目标。否则,为了这种排名,我们都不要追Princeton,而要向U
Western Australia看齐。
附:
1)美国新闻和世界报道 世界最好大学,生命科学和生物医学:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/02/25/worlds-best-universities-life-sciences-and-biomedicine.html
2)上海交通大学世界一流大学研究中心 世界大学生命科学和农业排名
http://www.arwu.org/FieldLIFE2010.jsp
Academic Ranking of World Universities in Life
and Agriculture Sciences - 2010
World RankInstitution*CountryScore on
AlumniScore on AwardScore on HiCiScore on PUBScore on TOPTotal
Score
|
1 |
Harvard University
|
|
100.0 |
75.1 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
94.2 |
100.0 |
2 |
University of California, San Francisco
|
|
0.0 |
100.0 |
72.2 |
63.0 |
94.9 |
76.5 |
3 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
|
|
78.4 |
94.1 |
54.3 |
51.0 |
96.2 |
76.3 |
4 |
University of Washington
|
|
55.5 |
74.7 |
51.1 |
70.9 |
87.0 |
72.8 |
5 |
Stanford University
|
|
0.0 |
53.7 |
82.1 |
62.6 |
93.5 |
71.3 |
6 |
University of Cambridge
|
|
92.0 |
43.9 |
47.0 |
64.4 |
88.7 |
69.4 |
7 |
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center at Dallas
|
|
62.0 |
76.0 |
45.3 |
44.4 |
97.1 |
67.8 |
8 |
University of Oxford
|
|
55.5 |
43.9 |
52.6 |
67.6 |
87.9 |
67.7 |
9 |
Yale University
|
|
62.0 |
27.7 |
57.4 |
62.7 |
92.5 |
67.0 |
10 |
Columbia University
|
|
73.4 |
54.6 |
44.2 |
55.5 |
90.5 |
66.5 |
11 |
Rockefeller University
|
|
48.0 |
82.0 |
49.0 |
32.9 |
100.0 |
66.0 |
11 |
University of Wisconsin - Madison
|
|
55.5 |
34.0 |
54.8 |
70.1 |
82.9 |
66.0 |
13 |
Cornell University
|
|
48.0 |
19.6 |
65.5 |
70.2 |
82.0 |
65.6 |
14 |
The Johns Hopkins University
|
|
62.0 |
58.8 |
35.9 |
63.3 |
88.8 |
65.4 |
15 |
University of California, San Diego
|
|
48.0 |
0.0 |
64.9 |
63.9 |
89.5 |
62.6 |
16 |
University of California, Berkeley
|
|
78.4 |
0.0 |
51.1 |
63.9 |
90.1 |
62.3 |
17 |
Karolinska Institute
|
|
48.0 |
55.5 |
44.5 |
54.3 |
80.1 |
61.0 |
18 |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
|
|
39.2 |
53.7 |
45.3 |
55.5 |
79.2 |
60.1 |
19 |
University of Pennsylvania
|
|
62.0 |
0.0 |
47.0 |
63.8 |
91.9 |
60.0 |
20 |
University College London
|
|
39.2 |
27.7 |
46.5 |
63.0 |
85.4 |
59.9 |
21 |
University of California, Davis
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
66.5 |
76.4 |
80.0 |
58.8 |
22 |
University of California, Los Angeles
|
|
0.0 |
39.2 |
40.7 |
65.0 |
87.1 |
57.1 |
23 |
Washington University in St. Louis
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
51.1 |
58.8 |
92.6 |
56.3 |
24 |
California Institute of Technology
|
|
48.0 |
60.4 |
30.4 |
29.7 |
97.2 |
56.1 |
24 |
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
50.3 |
66.9 |
84.3 |
56.1 |
26 |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
|
|
0.0 |
43.9 |
40.7 |
56.5 |
87.7 |
55.7 |
27 |
McGill University
|
|
55.5 |
0.0 |
42.6 |
62.6 |
82.9 |
55.5 |
28 |
Vanderbilt University
|
|
0.0 |
63.5 |
27.6 |
49.6 |
90.0 |
54.2 |
29 |
Kyoto University
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
48.7 |
70.5 |
70.2 |
54.1 |
30 |
University of Zurich
|
|
0.0 |
48.0 |
36.7 |
55.5 |
82.6 |
53.7 |
31 |
The University of Tokyo
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
43.6 |
84.6 |
73.4 |
53.1 |
32 |
University of Florida
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
43.6 |
74.1 |
69.4 |
52.3 |
33 |
Duke University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
45.3 |
61.3 |
87.8 |
51.3 |
34 |
The University of Western Australia
|
|
48.0 |
38.0 |
28.1 |
46.0 |
77.6 |
51.1 |
35 |
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
35.6 |
64.2 |
78.0 |
51.0 |
36 |
University of Wageningen
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
50.3 |
62.5 |
80.1 |
50.9 |
37 |
University of Basel
|
|
39.2 |
27.7 |
33.3 |
39.0 |
87.5 |
50.6 |
38 |
The University of Edinburgh
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
35.6 |
51.9 |
87.7 |
50.3 |
39 |
University of British Columbia
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
43.6 |
66.9 |
79.6 |
50.1 |
40 |
University of Pittsburgh
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
33.3 |
56.5 |
83.3 |
49.8 |
41 |
New York University
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
41.7 |
46.3 |
89.3 |
49.7 |
41 |
The Australian National University
|
|
48.0 |
19.6 |
35.6 |
40.0 |
82.1 |
49.7 |
41 |
The Imperial College of Science, Technology and
Medicine
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
41.1 |
60.2 |
87.4 |
49.7 |
44 |
University of Massachusetts Medical School -
Worcester
|
|
0.0 |
53.7 |
25.1 |
36.8 |
93.2 |
49.4 |
45 |
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Zurich
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
38.1 |
52.0 |
85.1 |
49.1 |
46 |
University of Copenhagen
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
30.8 |
67.8 |
73.5 |
48.3 |
46 |
University of Utah
|
|
0.0 |
31.0 |
38.8 |
44.2 |
81.7 |
48.3 |
48 |
Case Western Reserve University
|
|
62.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
44.0 |
86.0 |
48.2 |
48 |
University of Melbourne
|
|
48.0 |
0.0 |
25.1 |
60.5 |
77.7 |
48.2 |
50 |
Lund University
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
35.6 |
52.9 |
77.2 |
47.8 |
51-75 |
Baylor College of Medicine
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
30.8 |
46.8 |
89.0 |
|
51-75 |
Emory University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
38.8 |
51.8 |
86.4 |
|
51-75 |
King's College London
|
|
0.0 |
39.2 |
26.7 |
45.7 |
82.4 |
|
51-75 |
Michigan State University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
50.3 |
53.8 |
75.6 |
|
51-75 |
Northwestern University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
32.1 |
47.9 |
88.6 |
|
51-75 |
Osaka University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
39.1 |
58.4 |
71.8 |
|
51-75 |
Pennsylvania State University - University
Park
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
45.3 |
49.7 |
80.4 |
|
51-75 |
Princeton University
|
|
0.0 |
39.2 |
30.8 |
33.2 |
93.5 |
|
51-75 |
Technical University Munich
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
33.3 |
46.1 |
81.4 |
|
51-75 |
The Ohio State University - Columbus
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
58.0 |
78.0 |
|
51-75 |
The University of Georgia
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
39.8 |
56.3 |
72.1 |
|
51-75 |
The University of Queensland
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
12.6 |
60.2 |
81.1 |
|
51-75 |
The University of Sheffield
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
30.8 |
39.4 |
87.5 |
|
51-75 |
University of Birmingham
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
30.8 |
40.9 |
82.2 |
|
51-75 |
University of California, Irvine
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
40.7 |
45.9 |
82.8 |
|
51-75 |
University of California, Santa Barbara
|
|
55.5 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
32.0 |
87.4 |
|
51-75 |
University of Chicago
|
|
0.0 |
24.0 |
28.1 |
45.2 |
90.6 |
|
51-75 |
University of Freiburg
|
|
48.0 |
0.0 |
21.8 |
40.6 |
85.6 |
|
51-75 |
University of Iowa
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
35.6 |
43.8 |
85.6 |
|
51-75 |
University of Munich
|
|
39.2 |
27.7 |
12.6 |
50.8 |
80.0 |
|
51-75 |
University of Nottingham
|
|
0.0 |
53.7 |
28.1 |
40.2 |
75.5 |
|
51-75 |
University of Rochester
|
|
39.2 |
0.0 |
21.8 |
39.9 |
87.4 |
|
51-75 |
University of Southern California
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
37.7 |
43.1 |
86.0 |
|
51-75 |
University of Toronto
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
69.8 |
82.1 |
|
51-75 |
University of Virginia
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
40.4 |
42.5 |
87.8 |
|
76-100 |
Brown University
|
|
55.5 |
0.0 |
21.8 |
32.6 |
81.1 |
|
76-100 |
Cardiff University
|
|
0.0 |
43.9 |
12.6 |
38.1 |
77.3 |
|
76-100 |
Catholic University of Leuven
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
29.5 |
49.9 |
80.0 |
|
76-100 |
Catholic University of Louvain
|
|
0.0 |
27.7 |
21.8 |
38.9 |
77.8 |
|
76-100 |
Colorado State University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
39.8 |
45.1 |
73.4 |
|
76-100 |
Ghent University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
59.7 |
74.9 |
|
76-100 |
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
25.1 |
39.3 |
89.6 |
|
76-100 |
Oregon State University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
37.7 |
51.0 |
72.2 |
|
76-100 |
Pierre and Marie Curie University - Paris 6
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
19.9 |
57.2 |
84.3 |
|
76-100 |
Purdue University - West Lafayette
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
32.1 |
48.4 |
77.6 |
|
76-100 |
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - New
Brunswick
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
38.8 |
41.2 |
80.5 |
|
76-100 |
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
44.6 |
83.2 |
|
76-100 |
Tufts University
|
|
0.0 |
34.0 |
26.7 |
36.9 |
79.0 |
|
76-100 |
University of Alberta
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
56.9 |
76.2 |
|
76-100 |
University of Arizona
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
49.5 |
78.5 |
|
76-100 |
University of California, Riverside
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
39.3 |
43.2 |
76.4 |
|
76-100 |
University of Geneva
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
21.8 |
35.5 |
88.8 |
|
76-100 |
University of Goettingen
|
|
48.0 |
0.0 |
12.6 |
51.6 |
77.4 |
|
76-100 |
University of Helsinki
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
26.7 |
61.5 |
75.8 |
|
76-100 |
University of Montreal
|
|
27.7 |
0.0 |
17.8 |
47.6 |
78.6 |
|
76-100 |
University of Sydney
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
25.1 |
54.5 |
74.0 |
|
76-100 |
University of Tuebingen
|
|
55.5 |
0.0 |
17.8 |
46.0 |
77.3 |
|
76-100 |
University of Wuerzburg
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
34.4 |
40.9 |
82.3 |
|
76-100 |
Utrecht University
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
33.3 |
45.1 |
80.4 |
|
76-100 |
VU University Amsterdam
|
|
0.0 |
0.0 |
28.1 |
45.4 |
80.1 |