The University of the Year title will be awarded to the higher education institutions that demonstrated exceptional performance during the year. If your entry is based on a long-term strategy that has come to fruition during this period, we will accept information dating from the outset.

This year’s Competition focuses primarily on activity during the year, so we expect the sector’s outstanding response to the COVID-19 pandemic to feature heavily across most categories. However, excellent work that was unrelated to and unaffected by the pandemic has still taken place, and our judges are keen to consider those entries too.

There are nine categories to choose from – lots of choices for every university to find an area in which it excels and showcase its achievements.

Criteria such as exceptional teaching, research, scientific achievements, student support, collaborations, educational outreach, and others will be taken into consideration.

Nominations will be judged by a representative panel from across the world's higher education sector; winners will be announced online during the calendar year and profiled across the International Achievements Research Center website and its official pages on social networks. The winners will be awarded a Certificate of Recognition and the Emblem “University of the Year 2023 Winner”.

Entering the Competition

Eligibility

The “University of the Year” International Competition is open to all recognized higher education institutions (those with degree awarding powers) from countries with economies in transition and developing countries worldwide. Any university that has notable achievements is eligible to apply. Whether it is a new institution or a renowned university that has been operating for many years, this Competition is the ideal platform for developing your higher education institution and forging international partnerships with reputable universities across the world.

Nominating Mechanisms

1. Self-nomination (the application is submitted by a representative of the higher education institution to which the application relates).
2. Nomination made by any person who recommends an institution for participation in the Competition (academia peers from other institutions, former university employees, scholars and students, alumni, representatives of the local community, etc.)
3. Selection and invitation candidates-universities by the IARC Selection Committee. This Committee is responsible for the search, selection process, and pre-qualification of potential candidates. To select the institutions that deserve to be awarded the title "University of the Year", the Committee members conduct research based on permanent monitoring and content analysis of media, documents, and Internet sources. In addition, they use recommendations from academia and university peers, scientific and educational centers, and independent scientists, researchers, educators, etc.

Categories

Since the “University of the Year” Open International Competition is permanent, entries are accepted on a regular basis. However, all received nominations are taken into consideration in terms of the current calendar year's deadlines, and the winners will also be declared as this year’s nominees.

The results of the Competition are linked to one of the nine main categories:

• Governance and Leadership
• Academic Reputation
• Innovative Research
• Exceptional Teaching
• Student Support
• The University Campus
• International Partnership
• Community Engagement
• Sustainable Development

A category for the nomination is selected by the entrant.

Registration Fee

In the first stage, participation in the Competition is free of charge to enter, with a simple online process. If/when your application has passed the first, prejudging stage, then the registration fee will apply. Thus, your University pays only if its application has been approved, and accepted for the second round of the Open International Competition. The payment is non-refundable.

Judging

The first round of the competition process is consideration of all submitted applications and their approval/rejection by the IARC Review Committee.

In the second round of the Competition entries are judged by a representative panel from across the world's higher education sector. The experts will measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.

IARC identified the following seven main criteria for educational institutions as the basis for its assessment and accreditation with an assumption that these seven criteria encompass all the processes of an institution:

1. Curricular Aspects
2. Teaching-Learning and Evaluation
3. Research, Consultancy, and Extension
4. Infrastructure and Learning Resources
5. Student Support and Progression
6. Governance and Leadership
7. Innovative Practices

Based on the results of the previous two rounds, in the third round, the Judging Committee assesses the shortlisted entrants. The judges will select [a minimum of 2] shortlisted entrants in each category/subcategory from all valid entries received in that category and make a final decision regarding the winners. Our expert judges ensure that the IARC awards go to the very best institutions.

Only shortlisted entrants will be contacted by IARC. Due to the high number of submissions, we will only contact those that have been shortlisted and not contact unsuccessful nominations.

More information about the competition process can be found in the Procedure section.

Through your participation in the “University of the Year” Open International Competition, you will be able to take significant advantages & benefits.

Good luck!

Enter the 2023 Competition