Vanderbilt University School of Engineering is ranked in the top ten universities nationally as measured by the impact that their publications have had on the field.
The rankings were published in the January/February issue of Thomson Scientific’s newsletter Science Watch and are based on a survey of research publications in the physical and social sciences between 2001 and 2005. It is the first time that Vanderbilt engineering has made it into Science Watch’s top ten.
The basis of the rankings is what Science Watch calls “citation impact,” which is defined as the average number of times that papers written by an institution’s researchers are cited in papers published by other experts. This is considered to be a measure that does a good job of comparing the research quality of different-sized institutions.
Vanderbilt School of Engineering ranked ninth in the engineering category, with 414 papers and a relative impact score of 117. The first ranked institution was Yale, with 389 papers and a relative impact score of 181.
Science Watch “Top Ten” rankings cover 21 fields of university research, surveying publishing activities of researchers from the top 100 federally funded universities.
“We are pleased with this recognition,” said Vanderbilt Dean of Engineering Kenneth F. Galloway. “Our faculty and students publish significant papers, and the Science Watch ranking recognizes both their productivity and the quality of their work.” The dean noted that the achievement is especially notable in light of the fact that the Vanderbilt School of Engineering is a relatively small engineering school, with fewer than 100 faculty.