Global university rankings are now more than a decade old and this book uses the data they have produced to examine how the international landscape of universities has changed over the years. It offers new insights into the power and limits of league tables, a key element of globalized higher education that can be deplored but hardly ignored. Case studies from Asia, Europe and North America are explored to highlight the issues raised by a quantitative exercise that decontextualizes what is linked so strongly to local factors.

Hans Peter Hertig is a Professor Emeritus of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, and a former director of the Swiss National Science Foundation and of Swissnex Shanghai. Trained as a chemist and political scientist, he specializes in science policy, cross-disciplinary projects, area and cultural studies and international cooperation.