Listen to Dr. Jorge Grunberg’s interview, rector at ORT Uruguay University with Radio JAI on 27 July 2020.

Following on from its placing as the best university in Uruguay and among the 500 best in the world according to the QS World University Rankings, the Universidad ORT Uruguay has received further recognition.

The ORT University appears in the university rankings of the Times Higher Education – the first time that Uruguay has been represented in the prestigious publication.

The two placings highlight the breadth of the University’s expertise: while the QS ranking focuses more on teaching, the Times Higher Education ranking places an emphasis on academic and research issues. For university rector Dr. Jorge Grunburg, this makes the university’s latest achievement all the more impressive. Speaking to Argentinian Jewish radio station Radio JAI, he said “it is a very demanding ranking because it requires hundreds of academic publications over a period of time, so it is very difficult in general for universities in small countries to be able to appear in these rankings.”

Dr. Grunburg acknowledged that, while the ranking is positive for the reputation of both the university and for Uruguay, and may open opportunities for international collaboration, the institution’s main focus remains “intellectual production and training”. To that end, the university is continuing to look to new pedagogical methods:  “We are experimenting with classroom models being used in North America that allow a few students to be participating in class in person in the classroom and the rest of the students to be online simultaneously.”