Overview
University rankings attract strong opinions and significant attention from senior leadership teams. Yet discussions often focus on explaining outcomes rather than examining the underlying signals that shape them.
In this session, Ann Campbell, Director of Research Impact and Comparative Analytics at Digital Science, explores how ranking indicators and research intelligence can be used together to better understand academic and employer reputation. Drawing on publicly available data and sector-wide trends, she will demonstrate how institutions can move beyond scores to examine the research ecosystems that contribute to reputation, including collaborations, citations, policy influence, funding networks, international engagement, media visibility and broader research impact.
The session will also explore how institutions can develop complementary indicators using their own data to gain deeper insight into the factors that influence visibility, reputation and strategic positioning.
This is not a rankings masterclass. It is a practical discussion about using data more strategically. Rather than asking, “How can we improve our ranking?”, the session asks a different question: “What does the data reveal about how reputation is built, recognised and sustained?”
By exploring these underlying dynamics, institutions can make more informed decisions about research visibility, collaboration and impact, while developing a richer understanding of the signals reflected in ranking frameworks.
In this webinar you will
- Explore the research and reputation signals behind major ranking indicators, and how they can be contextualised using institutional data alongside research intelligence sources such as Dimensions and Altmetric
- See how institutions can develop complementary indicators that align with ranking themes while reflecting their own strategic priorities.
- Identify where strong research is not being surfaced and what institutions can do to improve visibility and recognition
- Build an evidence base that supports reputation analysis, institutional reporting and broader impact agendas without chasing figures
Who should attend
- Research office directors and VPs of Research
- Heads of Research Impact and Research Intelligence
- Chiefs of Data and Research Information Managers
- Institutional strategy and planning leads
- Anyone supporting their institution’s rankings strategy or research evaluation agenda
Meet our speaker
Ann Campbell
Director of Research Impact and Comparative Analytics | Digital Science
Bio
Ann Campbell is Director of Research Impact and Comparative Analytics at Digital Science. She specialises in helping universities turn complex research data into strategic insight, supporting areas such as research evaluation, benchmarking, impact assessment, rankings analysis and institutional reporting. Working across the global research ecosystem, she collaborates with institutions, funders and publishers to develop data-driven approaches that improve understanding of research performance, visibility and impact. An active contributor to sector discussions, Ann has spoken at events hosted by organisations including QS and Times Higher Education. She is passionate about helping organisations move beyond reporting metrics to using data as a tool for evidence-based decision-making.
Register now – it’s free
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