Dental school ranked among top 10 in nation, No. 11 worldwide

The School of Dental Medicine was ranked No. 10 among dental schools in the United States and No. 11 among dental schools worldwide in the 2017 global rankings of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The ARWU, also known as Shanghai Ranking, is regarded as one of the most prestigious and influential global rankings. The rankings are largely based on university research outcomes, such as the number of articles published in high-impact academic journals, highly cited researchers and scientific awards, and per-capita performance.

Developed by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, the ARWU evaluates universities in every country publishing a significant number of indexed articles.

The UB School of Dental Medicine was among the 200 dental schools worldwide to receive the recognition in the Dentistry and Oral Sciences category of the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2017. Forty of the 66 dental schools in the United States met the criteria for ranking.

“Our position as No. 11 of 200 dental schools throughout the world in the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities confirms what we’ve known for many years: that the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine is one of the leading centers for oral health research,” says Dean Joseph J. Zambon, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Periodontics and Endodontics.

“Among many contributions, the work of our research scientists and collaborators has firmly established the important role of oral health in overall health.”

Anne Meyer, associate dean for research in the dental school, adds that the ranking reflects the consistent excellence of the faculty’s research productivity.

“In each of the past two years, the School of Dental Medicine faculty authored more than 100 papers that have been listed in Science Citation Index. This is nearly two papers per year for each full-time member of our faculty on the clinical and tenure track,” Meyer notes. “Our publications often are cited by other researchers around the world. For example, according to Science Citation Index, 39 percent of the papers we published in 2011-17 have been cited a total of more than 5,300 times.”

The ARWU originally was designed to assess the quality of Chinese universities, but it has become “the most widely used annual ranking of the world’s research universities,” according to The Economist and “the most influential international ranking,” according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The UB dental school’s recognition strengthens the university’s reputation as one of the premier research-intensive public universities in the world.

“In my professional interactions with researchers, academics and clinicians, I have always heard how well regarded the UB School of Dental Medicine is around the world for its research and professional programs,” says Frank Scannapieco, associate dean for faculty and professional development and chair of the Department of Oral Biology. “This validates that fact. It’s great to see that the school is well-recognized by this ranking

The complete 2017 ARWU report can be found on its website.