Perspectives on rankings from a young university: César Wazen, Qatar University

In this episode, host Giacomo Mancini welcomes César Wazen to the show. Cesar is the Director of International Affairs at the University of Qatar and brings the perspective of “young” university and the world of University Rankings to the Research 2030 podcast.

Link to our full show notes

To understand how a university is performing on the global stage, many turn to the ranking systems developed by organizations such as Times Higher Education, QS and Shanghai. However, there is a growing shift pushing rankings beyond traditional models based on publication data. Some rankings look at a subject area, emphasize teaching, compare universities in different regions, and ones that look specifically at newer universities. Increasingly, institutions are also being asked to demonstrate that their research benefits society in some meaningful way.

 Additionally, in 2015, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set an ambitious 2030 target to achieve an equitable future for all. Aligning research with the SDGs has offered the academic community a valuable lens to evaluate their progress and demonstrate their societal impact. This is supported by the global Impact Rankings, which were launched in 2019 by Times Higher Education to track and report on universities’ contributions towards the UN goals.

 In this episode, we explore how the complex requirements of all these individual rankings align with the goals and aspirations of a relatively young institution like Qatar University and, what, if any, benefits do the rankings bring them.

Episode Voices:
Guest César Wazen:  Director of International Affairs, Qatar University

César Wazen’s interests in rankings, academic accreditation and student assessment are backed by extensive experience teaching mathematics and statistics as well as in whole-school accreditation. He holds a BSc in mathematics, a teaching diploma and a master’s in educational administration and policy studies, all from the American University of Beirut and currently pursuing doctoral studies in European and International Studies

Learn more about the Qatar University office of Research Support from their blog: http://blogs.qu.edu.qa/orsg/

Host: Giacomo Mancini, PhD

Business Development Manager at Elsevier and lead Host of the Research 2030 podcast

Dr. Giacomo Mancini is a Business Development Manager at Elsevier and lead host of Elsevier’s Research 2030 Podcast Series. He received his PhD in Developmental and Evolutionary Biology from New York University and has a vast amount of research experience, having held positions as a Scientist and Research Associate at Johnson & Johnson and Mount Sinai Innovative Partners. While he’s passionate about analytics and bibliometrics, you may also find him reading the sports section of fivethirtyeight.com or tracking MLB player statistics on baseballreference.com. Go Mets!

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