NEWTON University Earns a Place in a Prestigious International University Ranking

NEWTON University has become the only private higher education institution in the Czech Republic to be included in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026. According to Chancellor Anna Plechatá Krausová, this marks a major milestone in the University's development. “We have joined a community of universities that do more than simply declare their values. They subject their real impact on students, graduates, employees, and society to international evaluation and benchmarking.”

Chancellor, what does this year's ranking mean for the university and its students?

It is a great joy and an important milestone for us. NEWTON is the only private university from the Czech Republic to be included in the THE Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026. What is even more valuable to us, however, is that our strongest result was achieved in the area of decent work and economic growth. Practicality and preparing students for real professional life are among NEWTON's core values. It proves that our emphasis on real-world application is not just words on paper or marketing material.

Students have further proof that at NEWTON, they are not just studying for a degree. They are preparing for real professional life, gaining hands-on experience, and learning to think about entrepreneurship and leadership responsibly. This confirms that bridging academics with a real-world work environment is not a marketing slogan here, but a measurable component of education.

For the university, this result is also a commitment. We don't view the ranking as a trophy for the display case, but as a mirror: it shows us where our strengths lie and where we need to improve. In the next academic year, we will focus even more on measuring and documenting the activities and initiatives we already undertake but haven't yet systematically tracked for impact—such as research on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or integrating these topics into the curriculum.

How demanding was the preparation of the data required for inclusion in the ranking?

Gathering and analyzing all the data tracked by this ranking required expert preparation across the entire institution. The Times Higher Education rankings compare universities worldwide and evaluate a very broad spectrum of topics, from research quality and focus to employee relations, equal opportunities, and the social impact of their activities. It was not enough to simply describe what we do; everything had to be backed by concrete data and publicly accessible documentation. For us, this was also a very useful internal audit that highlighted what we are already doing well and where we need to better measure and document the impact of our activities in the future.

In which categories did your university succeed? Conversely, where do you see room for improvement?

In the overall evaluation, NEWTON ranked in the 1001–1500 band out of more than 1,600 universities assessed worldwide. Our strongest result is in the area of 'Decent Work and Economic Growth,' where we placed in the 401–600 band. We achieved our most outstanding sub-result in the indicator for student employability and work placements. An exceptionally high score of 91 out of 100 shows that bridging academics with a real work environment is one of NEWTON's greatest strengths. It confirms our belief that we are world-class in this regard.

At the same time, we see considerable room for improvement in measuring and documenting the activities we already carry out. This applies, for instance, to research focused on Sustainable Development Goals, integrating these themes into teaching, or the concrete outcomes of international partnerships. Having partnerships on paper is not enough; we want them to generate joint courses, projects, research, and new opportunities for students. Therefore, we view the result as both a confirmation and a roadmap: it confirms our strength in practical education while clearly showing us where we can progress further.

In addition to NEWTON, six other Czech public universities appeared in this year's ranking. As a private institution, is it more challenging for you to meet these strict evaluation criteria?

I wouldn't say it is necessarily harder, but our starting conditions are different. Large public universities have a broader range of disciplines, larger research teams, and more extensive data collection capacities. Furthermore, some categories award points for things like the proportion of graduates in healthcare fields or those with teaching qualifications. As a specialized university, we inherently cannot score in these indicators due to our focus.

On the other hand, our advantages are practicality, flexibility, and close connections with both students and employers. I believe this is exactly what was reflected in our strong result in work placements. I see the fact that we are the only Czech private university in this year's evaluation primarily as an expression of our ambition. NEWTON can enter global comparisons and succeed in areas that align with its mission.

You described how time-consuming and financially demanding it is to prepare the data for evaluation. Will you nevertheless strive for inclusion in the ranking next year?

This year's result confirms we are moving in the right direction and motivates us to keep going. It is part of our ambition to build NEWTON into a respected international business school. We want to prepare students for real professional life, develop responsible entrepreneurship, create an open international environment, and transparently benchmark our results globally.

Absolutely, yes. This year's debut in the ranking is just the beginning and a key part of our internationalization strategy. Our membership and ongoing accreditation process with the Business Graduates Association (BGA), which emphasizes responsible management, innovation, and positive social impact, fits perfectly into this strategy. The BGA provides us with an international community and direction, while THE holds up a mirror. Next year, we don't just want to maintain our position; we want to demonstrate that internationalization brings concrete opportunities to students—in teaching, practical experience, research, and their future careers. Our goal is to bring the best of the world to NEWTON while opening the world to our students.

What is Times Higher Education?

Times Higher Education is an international higher education platform that publishes several independent global rankings and evaluations. Established in 1972, its best-known index is the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Each ranking tracks a different aspect of university performance.

NEWTON is included in the THE Sustainability Impact Ratings. This evaluation assesses how universities contribute to sustainable development through research, teaching, responsible operations, and measuring the impact of their activities beyond the classroom. It evaluates education quality, employability, equal opportunities, institutional social responsibility, and the quality of international partnerships.