The top of domestic universities, presented by the Ministry of Education

University charts arouse many passions. The ambitions are very high and at this level all the actors involved want a position on the podium. The Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, the University of Bucharest and the Politehnica University of Bucharest occupy the first three places in the 2023 National Metaranking of higher education institutions published by the Ministry of Education. The fourth place is occupied by the "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Bucharest, the fifth place by the "Iuliu Haţieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Cluj-Napoca, and the sixth place by the "Transilvania" University from Braşov. In seventh place is the "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University from Iaşi, in eighth place is the West University from Timisoara, in ninth place is the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, and in tenth place is the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. According to the Ministry of Education, the National Metaranking is a mechanism for evaluating and ranking Romanian universities, based on the analysis of international university rankings recognized globally by the International Ranking Expert Group, Inventory of International Rankings (IREG). The top 10 universities in Romania in 2023 is similar to the one in 2022, being occupied by comprehensive, technical and medical universities. "Metaranking is a precise and impartial analysis tool, which promotes the fair allocation of university research funding based on proven performance and the identification of needs to achieve and sustain excellence in education and research", informed the Ministry of Education. According to the cited source, the specific objectives of the National Metaranking aim to identify high-performing higher education institutions in terms of scientific activity and their contribution to the international academic community, reflected by their presence in the most important international rankings of European and Western universities, as well as the ranking them based on the score obtained following the application of the standardized methodology related to the national metaranking exercise. It also aims to provide an adequate analysis tool for national academic management, a tool as objective and transparent as possible that can be used to obtain a clearer and more comprehensive vision of the impact of Romanian universities within the international academic community and taking more informed and more efficient decisions regarding the financing of research in higher education institutions.