For the fourth year in a row, the Alma Mater takes first place in the prestigious university ranking at the Italian level: the University increases its scores in all the primary factors that comprise the ranking and moves up six positions internationally, from 161st to 155th place. For the fourth year in a row, the University of Bologna has ranked first among Italian universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, one of the most well-known and prominent international university rankings. The Alma Mater climbs six positions, from 161st to 155th place globally, affirming a long-term upward trend: in the past three years alone, 17 positions have been gained. The University of Bologna is followed by the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa (168th), Sapienza University of Rome (181st), and the University of Padua (201st-250th) among Italians. The Alma Mater increases its scores in all five major ranking factors. Performance improved on metrics of teaching quality (+6%) and research quality (+11.3%), and all internationalization factors improved. In addition, the Alma Mater receives the highest possible score (100 out of 100) in the indicator that assesses the quality of PhD courses. Results that confirm the University of Bologna in the top 200 of the ranking for the sixth consecutive year: given that there are around 26 thousand universities in the world, the Alma Mater is therefore constantly in the top 1% of the greatest universities worldwide. "The Alma Mater Studiorum has an arduous but very important task ahead of it: to strengthen our identity as a great public, open, inclusive university and at the same time guarantee a very high quality level, even compared to less frequented and better funded international universities" , says Rector Giovanni Molari. "I'd like to thank all of my colleagues who, through their generous contributions, make awards like this possible." We welcome it with excitement because it recognizes the efforts of a complete community."