University of Vaasa among the world’s best in business administration – Success also in sustainability ranking and researchers listed among the most influential scientists

Shanghai Ranking: Among the world’s best in business administration

For the third consecutive year, the University of Vaasa is ranked to the top 50 in the world in Business Administration in the 2025 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) published by Shanghai Ranking. Ranked 43rd globally and second in Finland, the university strengthens its position as an internationally recognised institution that provides hiqh-quality business education and research. 

GRAS is based on nine objective indicators grouped into five categories: World-Class Faculty, World-Class Research Output, High-Quality Research, Research Impact, and International Collaboration. In Business Administration, the University of Vaasa is ranked 19th globally for World-Class Research Output, 20th for International Collaboration, and 25th for High-Quality Research, ranking top in Finland for all three categories.

The University of Vaasa is ranked also in the field of Management, placed in the top 201-300 category globally and to the joint second place in Finland. In Management, the university is ranked 52nd globally and first in Finland for International Collaboration.

The Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) is a discipline-specific global ranking published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University since 2017. Each year, GRAS presents around 20,000 subject units from approximately 2,000 universities across some 100 countries and regions.

QS Sustainability: Improved ranking for the university

The University of Vaasa is ranked 679th in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026, rising 81 places from last year. As a highlight, the University of Vaasa’s equality score is 93%, which places the university to the joint 145th place globally and second in Finland. 

Using a methodology comprised of indicators designed to measure an institution's ability to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges, the QS Sustainability Rankings 2026 ranks 2,022 universities from around the world by evaluating them in social and environmental sustainability.

Stanford list: Researchers ranked among the top 2% of the world’s most influential scientists

Several University of Vaasa researchers are named in the 2025 edition of the Stanford University and Elsevier list of World Top 2% scientists. This prestigious list highlights the world’s leading scientists who have made a substantial impact in their respective fields through their citation influence. The list uses Scopus citation data to assess the impact of researchers over the long term (career-long) and for single year (2024).

Career-long list

Eleven researchers, who are either currently working at or have retired from the University of Vaasa, appear on the career-long list. Ranked highest on the career-long list are Martin Meyer, Vice-Rector and Professor (ranked 42,090), and Petri Helo, Professor of Industrial Management (ranked 70,683).

The following researchers are included in the list:

Martin Meyer, Vice-Rector and Professor

Petri Helo, Professor of Industrial Management

Anupam Dutta, Associate Professor of Applied Econometrics

Marcelo Simões, Professor (emeritus) of Electrical Engineering

Vesa Suutari, Professor of Human Resource Management

Erkki K. Laitinen, Professor (emeritus) of Accounting

Jouni Lampinen, Professor of Software Engineering

Hannu Laaksonen, Professor of Electrical Engineering

Xiaoshu Lü, Professor of Energy Technology

Jarmo Alander, Professor of Production Automation (retired)

Ines Mergel, Visiting Professor, Public Management

Single-year list 

Twelve researchers from the University of Vaasa appear on the single-year list (2024) of world’s most influential researchers. Ranked highest on the single-year list are Ines Mergel, Visiting Professor, Public Management (ranked 4,521), and Anupam Dutta, Associate Professor of Applied Econometrics (ranked 8,306).

The following researchers are included in the list:

Ines Mergel, Visiting Professor, Public Management

Anupam Dutta, Associate Professor of Applied Econometrics

Marko Kohtamäki, Professor of Strategic Management

Petri Helo, Professor of Industrial Management 

Stephen Onifade, Associate Professor of Economics

Arto Ojala, Professor of International Business

Joni Salminen, Associate Professor of Marketing

Hannu Laaksonen, Professor of Electrical Engineering

Martin Meyer, Vice-Rector and Professor

Mazaher Karimi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering

Marcelo Simões, Professor (emeritus) of Electrical Engineering

Jarmo Alander Professor of Production Automation (retired)

The valuations were calculated using all Scopus author profiles as of August 1, 2025, covering citations up to the end of 2024. The database of top-cited scientists provides standardised information on citations, h-index, co-authorship adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions and a composite indicator (c-score). See the whole list published by Stanford University and Elsevier here.