Annual research projects
Available exclusively to members, our annual industry-related research project pushes forward the boundaries of knowledge around global higher education reputation. The topics reflect the issues and challenges identified by members, and the research produces actionable insights.
Participation in the project helps members understand their institution’s role and position within the wider issues affecting the sector.
Overviews of the projects can be accessed publicly below, and members have access to the full back catalogue of detailed findings.
"It's the only network that gives me a peer group that is equally, if not more, experienced than I am"
– Tania Rhodes-Taylor, Executive Director of Communications and External Affairs, King's College London
Research projects library
World 100 Research Project 2025: Changing sentiment towards Higher Education
Threats and opportunities to building and maintaining reputation in 2025 and beyond “Trump administration freezes future grants to Harvard” “Canada reduces international student…
World 100 Research Project 2024: Resources and Structures
Fit for the Future: structures and resources for delivering effective reputation managementThis survey aims to build a picture of the approaches to reputation management being taken by the world’s…
Symbiotic? Exploring the Relationship Between Reputation and Sustainable Development 2022/2023
The World 100 Network annual research project always aims to push the boundaries of understanding about global university reputation. The project for the 2022/23 membership year sought to gain some…
How Do Universities Stand Out: 2021/22
Whilst contradictory in nature, a university’s goal is to make themselves both top of mind, or central, and distinctive in the sector in order to stand out. Understanding and ultimately influencing…
COVID-19: Taking the Temperature of the Crisis
COVID-19 has tested every university in ways that would have been unimaginable at the end of 2019. This has been the ultimate reputation test, and the World 100 Reputation Network was keen to chart…
The Reputation Opportunity: 2020/21
The pandemic has highlighted the role of universities and academic research as a key contributor to society as never before. But have institutions been able to gain a reputation advantage from…
International Reputation Tracker
The Pilot YearThe 2019/20 membership year was the Year 0 pilot year for the International Reputation Tracker. All members were invited to take part in the Tracker as the main annual research project…
Resources and Structures 2020
University communications, marketing, and international teams have been at the forefront of their institutions’ responses to the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. But do you feel that…
COVID-19: Taking the Temperature of the Crisis
COVID-19 has tested every university in ways that would have been unimaginable at the end of 2019. This has been the ultimate reputation test, and the World 100 Reputation Network was keen to chart…
Riding the Tiger: 2018/19
International partnerships between universities have traditionally been forged around student mobility, research collaborations, networks, and recruitment progression routes, which are determined by…
Brand Snapshot: 2017/18
Our 2017/18 research project, Brand Snapshot, reviewed the online brand profile of the best universities in the world – the top 50 in the world in all four main global rankings, plus W100…
The Ranking Influencers: 2016/17
Academics and universities know that data matters when it comes to world university rankings. As a result, tremendous effort goes into getting research in the right journals and maximizing citations.…
The Digital Approach: 2017/18
Digital communications is essential for all global organizations but critical for those aimed at young people. In addition to our annual research project for W100 members, the World 100 set out to…
The R-Word: 2015/16
Excellent universities are defined by excellent research, and one of the main skills of those who direct reputation is to make this research accessible, and as widely read as possible. For our World…
Reputation Management: 2014/15
The 2014/15 annual research project returns to the topic of resources and structures for reputation management in the world’s best universities. We first visited this topic in the early days of the…
PhD Choice Factors: 2013/14
The project set out to consider the extent to which international PhD students valued reputation, and how reputation figured in their destinational choice for a PhD, with a particular desire to…
Choice Factors in International Academic Job Change: 2011/12
The 2011/12 annual research project set out to investigate the most important factors in international academic job change and the role of reputation in this process. Academics move to join a…
Internal Communications and Staff Engagement in World-class Universities: 2010/11
The World 100 worked with four UK universities (Bristol, Leicester, Oxford Brookes and Edge Hill) on a project funded by the British Government’s Higher Education Funding Council to develop best…
Rise and Fall: 2009/10
The second survey-based research project conducted by the World 100, this research project looks at the relationship between changes in rankings and reputation as a whole. It aimed to examine to what…
Website Best Practice for World-Class Universities: 2008/09
For our 2008/09 research project, we reviewed the online profiles of all 137 of the universities ranked in the world top 100 by either the THE or ARWU global rankings to benchmark website best…
Structures, Strategies and Resources for Reputational Advancement: 2008/09
The 2008/09 research project undertaken by the World 100 scoped the reputation and communications processes, including resources, strategies and structures, of top global universities for…
Become a member
The World 100 Reputation Network is a group of the best universities in the world, delivering research that enhances reputation and offering leaders the chance to develop their own careers on a global stage. Members benefit from events and study tours, training, monthly media monitoring, and unique reputation research to provide institutional advantage.