LSE NEWS
LSE CONTINUES TO CLIMB the world reputation rankings LSE has risen to 25th in the third annual Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings. This represents a year-on-year increase for the School, which was previously ranked at 29th in 2012 and 37th in 2011. The rankings are based on a survey of nearly 17,000 experienced, senior academics from almost 150 countries. Participants are asked to name a handful of universities that they believe to be the best in the world. LSE is the fifth highest UK university in this year’s rankings and one of only nine UK institutions in the Top 100. The School is also bucking the trend for western institutions, which tend to be dropping down the rankings. The Director of LSE, Professor Craig Calhoun, said: “It is great to see that LSE continues to be held in high esteem and that the importance of social sciences is increasingly being recognised around the world. “League table metrics and rankings can change from year to year but the key task for LSE is to remain focused on producing world class research and teaching that engages with real-world problems. Hopefully, if we succeed in this task, the strong reputation will continue to follow.” lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2013/03/ReputationRankings.aspx
UK INVESTS £51m in International Growth Centre
LSE IDEAS ranked among world’s most influential think tanks LSE IDEAS is one of the top 50 think tanks in the world according to the Think Tank and Civil Societies Program’s 2012 league tables. The centre for international affairs, diplomacy and strategy at LSE is ranked 45th in the world in the latest league table, as well as in the top three university think tanks in the field of international affairs. It was assessed against many criteria, including the publication of the organisation’s work by peer reviewed journals, books and other authoritative publications, its ability to retain elite scholars and analysts, academic reputation and its reputation with policymakers. The table also takes into consideration the organisation’s ability to produce new knowledge or alternative ideas on policy and its ability to bridge the gap between the academic and policymaking communities and between policymakers and the public. Professor Arne Westad, director of IDEAS, said: “These rankings are recognition of the hard work everyone involved with IDEAS has put in over the past few years. We’re continually seeking to challenge the conventional wisdom and to engage the diplomatic and foreign policy community with the very best forward looking, policy-oriented research. There’s much more we want to achieve, and we’ll be striving to do even better next year.” The full rankings are at gotothinktank.com/2011-global-tank-index
The UK government has announced a major £51m investment to the International Growth Centre (IGC) to enable it to expand its work from 12 to 15 countries. The IGC, which is based at LSE and in partnership with the University of Oxford, provides independent and demand-led growth policy advice directly to governments, based on rigorous analysis and frontier research. It is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). The £51m investment will enable it to continue operations in existing partner countries across South Asia and subSaharan Africa, but also to expand its work through a renewed focus on key growth concerns. The IGC has already
collection and has assisted governments in Ghana, Zambia and Mozambique to work towards harnessing wealth from their mineral resources. LSE Professor Robin Burgess, director of the IGC, said: “Increasing economic growth is critical to improving living standards for millions of people in the developing world to lift them out of poverty. Providing concrete evidence based on rigorous analysis and frontier research on what policies work to engender economic growth is a key offering of the IGC to policymakers across Africa and Asia. We are delighted that DFID’s continued support will enable us to deepen and expand our work in bringing the worlds of research and policy closer together.”
helped governments in Pakistan, Rwanda, Bihar and Bangladesh to reform their tax structures in order to boost revenue
lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/ archives/2013/03/IGC.aspx
UK’s Democratic Audit moves to LSE One of Britain’s leading NGOs tracking the health of democracy, human rights and freedoms in an evidence-based way has moved to LSE. The Democratic Audit (DA), funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, has built a reputation for independent, high quality and committed research into the evolution of democratic practices, governance accountability and civil and human rights in the UK over more than two decades. It has moved from the University of Liverpool to LSE’s Department of Government and is co-directed by Dr Jonathan Hopkins and Professor Patrick Dunleavy. Dr Jonathan Hopkins, co-director of Democratic Audit, said: “The state of democracy affects every citizen so it is vital we understand not only how it is
evolving in the UK but how the UK’s governance compares to the rest of the world. Following great work previously done under the leadership of Dr Stuart Wilks-Heeg, we will continue to closely monitor how government decisions, changes in law and developments in party politics and the constitution affect the quality of the UK’s democratic life. With Euro-elections and a referendum on independence for Scotland due in 2014, a general election due by spring 2015, and an in/out referendum on Britain staying in the EU perhaps coming after that, the political debate around British democracy has never been more intense.” lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/ news/archives/2013/03/ DemocraticAudit.aspx
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Summer 2013
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