Global Survey Cites ODU for Geosciences Research

A global ranking of university research reported in scientific papers has cited Old Dominion for the work of its faculty members in geosciences.

The 2013 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities analyzes the production and impact of research articles and compiles rankings in various subject areas. ODU finished 278th in the geosciences category, tied with the University of Canterbury, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Missouri Columbia and Dresden University of Technology.

The ranking program, which is administered by the National Taiwan University (NTU), recognizes the achievements of the top 300 universities in the various subject areas. NTU identified 888 top research universities (from among the some 4,000 research institutions in the world) that were deemed eligible for the rankings.

Rodger Harvey, ODU's interim vice president for research, said the university's ranking "is a reflection of the sustained excellence that our geoscience faculty contributes to knowledge through their published work and its citation in the scientific community."

Harvey, who also serves as chair of the Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (OEAS), said much of the research in this field at ODU is conducted within OEAS. He is a geosciences researcher, himself. But he also noted that geosciences work is done in fields such as geochemistry, geography, physical geography, multidisciplinary geosciences and remote sensing.