University takes four spot in new science rankings

JULIA TIERNAN/YH UPHILL BATTLE: Yale's science departments ranked fourth in science research nationally.

Yale must once again share the spotlight in published rankings. According to Science Watch, which is affiliated with the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Yale ranks behind Harvard, Stanford, and Caltech in science research.

The September/October 1998 issue of Science Watch listed the top federally funded American universities in 21 areas of science, based on the impact of published studies.

Both Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, and University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, were pleased with the rankings. Brodhead especially approved of how the rankings stressed impact of departments versus their sizes. "Many of our departments are smaller than comparable departments at schools where that department is one of the main activities," Brodhead said. "What this study suggests is that when the size factor is eliminated, the excellence of Yale's research operations becomes much more evident."

President Levin, GRD '74, agreed. "We did fairly well. Science at Yale is stronger than many people think." Levin, however, admitted, "We ranked in the top 10 in nine of the 21 fields. Of course, that means we didn't rank in the top 10 in twelve fields. It's very clear to us that in a number of scientific areas we need to make improvements."

Yale science professors and researchers were wary of citation-based rankings. While Mark D. Biggins, associate molecular biophysics and biochemistry professor, believed that the rankings gave a "reasonable feel" of where universities stand in research, he also downplayed their value. "One of my most cited papers was a rinky-dink technique I developed as a grad student, which is far from the most profound and interesting of my research," he said.

Alan Fanning, associate research scientist in the Department of Internal Medicine and Digestive Diseases, cautioned that certain factors may throw the average of citations per paper off balance and result in misrepresented data. "You can have a single paper, considered a fluke, that is cited by virtually everybody, which would contribute to an undeservedly high average citation-per-paper value," he explained.

When selecting candidates for professors, Yale science departments place emphasis on research in addition to teaching. Donald Crothers, chair of the chemistry department, explained that those candidates who are chosen as junior faculty must have "excelled in a particular field of research and have published extensively, authoring about eight to 20 papers in their careers."

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