November brings a grab-bag of Top 10 rankings to UW-Madison

A trio of early-November academic rankings placed UW–Madison in good company among national universities. Rankings of agricultural research, international grants and workplace quality all gave the university Top 10 marks.

Researchers at UW–Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences literally set the pace nationally for high-impact research, ranking first overall in the number of citations per research paper. Citations are considered the best indicator of the influence and authority of published research, since cited work means the research is being referenced and drawn upon by other scientists.

Thomson Scientific, a database and information company for the scientific community, conducted the ranking by tracking both total papers and citations among indexed agricultural journals from 2000-2004. UW–Madison came out on top in the ranking of 100 federally funded research universities, with 749 published papers and an average of 4.13 citations per paper.

UW–Madison ranks No. 7 in the nation in the total number of highly competitive Fulbright Scholarships awarded to students. For the 2005-06 year, UW–Madison received 18 Fulbright awards from a total of 62 applications, according to the federal Institute of International Education.

The Fulbright program is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals to undertake graduate study, advanced research and teaching across the globe.

The university was also named the sixth best academic workplace in America, according to the third annual “Best Places to Work in Academia” survey by the magazine The Scientist. The magazine sought opinions from employees at 91 American and 44 international campuses, probing issues related to personal and professional satisfaction, working relationships and the tenure process. The survey was reported in the Nov. 7 issue of The Scientist.