Join the University of Derby as we celebrate Open Research Week 2026! 

The University of Derby is thrilled to host Mark Neijssel from the University of Leiden! Mark is the Sales Director of the Centre of Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), as throughout his career has has worked at the intersection of science and commerce, with particular emphasis on contract research, research valorization, and academia-industry collaboration. At the forefront of research intelligence focusing on societal engagement and inclusion in the research system, responsible research evaluation and healthy research cultures, and openness of research information, CWTS produces cutting-edge innovations like the CWTS Leiden Ranking of Universities and its latest counterpart the CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition. 

University rankings continue to influence strategic decision-making in higher education, while at the same time their methodologies have serious flaws, and their interpretation remains with challenges. This presentation discusses the sense and nonsense of rankings, highlighting common issues associated with composite indicators such as the conflation of performance dimensions and the mixing of size-dependent with size-independent indicators. Using the CWTS Leiden Ranking as a point of reference, Mark compares its transparent, purely bibliometric indicator-based approach with other global rankings and discuss methodological limitations that often lead to misinterpretation. The Leiden Ranking ranks universities worldwide along various analytical dimensions based on the publications affiliated to those institutions. He further emphasises the importance of open and inclusive data sources in research evaluation and illustrate how the CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition, based on OpenAlex, addresses this. Finally, this session provides some recommendations for universities on how to move into the era of open research information.