CSRankings: Computer Science on the Rise

Typical scene of a future interaction in the metaverse: On the left a user durin
Typical scene of a future interaction in the metaverse: On the left a user during interaction, on the right a meeting of photorealistic avatars - but one appears twice. Which one is the real one or is controlled by its real user? In Würzburg, such scenarios of future social interactions are being investigated and biometric procedures are being developed to protect privacy and identity in the metaverse. (Image: Lehrstuhl für Mensch-Computer-Interaktion / Universität Würzburg)

1st place in Germany, 1st place in Europe, 3rd place worldwide: JMU’s Virtual Reality researchers achieve these top results in the CSRankings. The university is also top in other areas.

The Chair of Human-Computer Interaction at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg has been carrying out research and development in the field of highly immersive and interactive virtual, augmented and mixed reality systems for over ten years. A new ranking has now once again confirmed that Professor Marc Erich Latoschik and his team are among the international leaders.

According to the Computer Science Rankings (CSRankings) 2024, the Chair team is ranked first in Germany and Europe and third worldwide in the field of virtual reality , a significant rise compared to the previous year. Back then, the result was: 1st place in Germany, 3rd place in Europe, 6th place in the world.

The rankings are based on performance over the past ten years. ’This outstanding result does not even take into account the papers that Professor Carolin Wienrich published alone. We have been working extremely successfully with her team for years and this collaboration has also contributed significantly to this success,’ says Marc Erich Latoschik. A further increase can therefore be expected in the future.

Carolin Wienrich heads the Professorship of Psychology of Intelligent Interactive Systems. Other Würzburg cooperation partners come from psychology, psychiatry, data science, psychological ergonomics and education. In addition, there are external partners such as the Chair of Computer Graphics at TU Dortmund University.

Top in the Field of Natural Language Processing

Other areas of computer science at Würzburg have also improved in the CSRankings. For example, the field of natural language processing is ranked 5th in Germany (6th last year), 29th in Europe (previously 30th) and 115th worldwide (previously 120th) - a great success for Professor Goran Glava¨, who has headed the Chair of Computer Science XII since 2022. Natural language processing is a focus of his research.

At the Forefront in the Field of Computer Vision

Computer vision is another field in which JMU performs very well in the CSRankings. This is thanks to Professor Radu Timofte, holder of a Humboldt Professorship, and his team at the Chair of Computer Science IV. They are ranked 7th in Germany (8th last year), 24th in Europe (previously 25th) and 115th worldwide (previously 119th). This specialised field of artificial intelligence deals with the question of how computers can extract meaningful information from digital images and videos.

CAIDAS Among the Top Ten in Germany

The researchers mentioned belong to the Institute of Computer Science at JMU and also to the JMU Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science CAIDAS. This research centre is also in a very good position in the ranking: it is among the top ten in Germany in the field of artificial intelligence. ’With our eighth place, we are extremely well positioned as a young and growing centre,’ says CAIDAS spokesperson Professor Andreas Hotho.

About CSRankings

CSRankings is a metrics-based ranking of top computer science institutions worldwide. It weights research institutions, faculties and chairs according to their presence in the most renowned journals. Emery Berger, Professor at the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is responsible for the ranking.

Website CSRankings https://csrankings.org/