Why Should You Care About Research and 'Citations per Faculty?'

As all keen rankings fans will know, one of the measurements used in the QS World University Rankings is ‘citations per faculty member’ – which gives an indication of the university’s performance in research. This is obviously relevant for academics and graduate students, but as an undergraduate student why should you care about citations per faculty member? Well, here are five reasons:

1. Increased university reputation

First, universities producing lots of high quality research and citations per faculty are likely to have a stronger university reputation worldwide, which means you’ll get the gratification of attending a university widely accepted as being awesome – therefore leading people to assume you must be pretty awesome too. (Check out Vickie’s take on whether university reputation matters when choosing a university).

2. Get taught by Super Brains

Unavoidably, the universities producing the best research and most citations per faculty will tend to attract the top researchers. In many (though not all) countries, it’s typical for academics to be employed as both researchers and teachers – so you could find yourself in lectures and seminars taught by some of the most famous and trailblazing researchers in your subject. Maybe even in small group or one-on-one tutorials. Which is pretty cool. (I’d advise resisting the urge to ask them to sign your textbook…)

3. Increased research funding

Strong research conducted by top researchers is usually underpinned by strong research funding. While much of this will go towards specific research projects, at least some of that research funding is likely to be spent on generally improving the university’s facilities and resources, meaning you could get to play with some Shiny New Equipment. Yay!

4. Get a top choice of student exchange programs

Related to all these points is the fact that universities with strong research are likely to attract more international partnerships with other universities – sort of like the most popular kids at school, who everyone wants to play with. Often, research partnerships also lead to other types of collaboration, including student exchange programs. So a good research record could be an indication that a university will offer lots of opportunities for students to spend time elsewhere, at other prestigious institutions.

5. Nurture your own inner researcher

Most undergraduate degrees do require students to complete some kind of independent research, usually towards the end of the course. So, here’s your chance to really benefit from all the expertise and resources mentioned above. Whether or not you then go on to a graduate degree or a research role, the skills you gain here are likely to be useful in a wide range of careers – aside from which, pursuing independent research can be a really satisfying experience in itself, especially if well supported.

What do you think? Is it important to choose a university which produces strong research? Share your opinions with us on Twitter or Facebook, or in the comments below.