The Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) created a ranking for a selected group of European universities, the "CHE Excellenceranking", in the fields of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics in the first cycle and in 2009, added the fields of political science, psychology and economics as a sequel. In the year 2010, the natural science subject areas and Mathematics were analysed again.  

On the basis of our longstanding experience with ranking European higher education institutions in Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, the CHE intends to contribute to the development of the European Higher Education Area while demonstrating the competitive strength of European universities.  

It is the goal of the CHE Excellenceranking to help academics who are searching for an appropriate higher education institution (HEI) with a strong master's programme or  PhD programme.

The CHE Excellenceranking seal of quality shows that a department or research field at an HEI is a member of the Excellence Group.  

A detailed paper with facts, explanations and methodology is available exclusively in English and can be downloaded by clicking on the link to the right. Detailed results of the ExcellenceRanking can also be found at www.excellenceranking.org, the online interactive website hosted by DIE ZEIT.  

The results of the first and second phase of the ExcellenceRanking are published in the weekly journal DIE ZEIT on October 28th 2010.