THE World University Rankings 2014 video competition now open for entries

Entries closed on 5 September 2014. Thank you for your interest.
View this year's five shortlisted finalists.

It’s back. The annual Times Higher Education World University Rankings video competition is open for entries.

As last year’s seven shortlisted videos approach 40,000 views on YouTube, Times Higher Education magazine is inviting entries for its 2014 competition to mark the publication of the 11th annual World University Rankings and to celebrate and showcase excellence across higher education globally.

Anyone who works for or studies in any university in the world is invited to submit a short video of no more than 30 seconds completing the sentence: “I love [name of university] because…”

The videos can cover any aspect of the institution from the quality of research or teaching, to the social and cultural life, employment opportunities or the campus environment.

As with previous years, the most inspiring and entertaining videos, presented in the most creative and innovative ways, and those videos that capture the imagination of the higher education community on social networks, are likely to find favour with our judges.

All shortlisted videos will be featured on Times Higher Education’s YouTube channel, and our favourites will appear on the THE World University Rankings website. It is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your institution’s unique qualities, and your own video-making skills, to the tens of millions of visitors to the rankings website. The creator of the winning video will also win an Apple iPad.

Phil Baty, editor of the THE rankings, said: “The Times Higher Education World University Rankings video competition has become a wonderful and inspiring annual fixture – in the past two years we’ve had entries from all over the world – the UK, US, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, China and many other countries. It is a true, global celebration of excellence in higher education and the wonderfully diverse sector that we are all part of.

“Our rankings judge world-class research universities across a trusted and comprehensive range of 13 separate performance indicators, to provide the gold standard in university comparisons, and the video competition is a way to celebrate the less tangible things that make our universities great.

“There are many, many things that can make a university great beyond rankings metrics and as we have seen from the entries in the past, what makes a university special can be very personal to the individual, so we are expecting a wonderful range of views and of film-making styles.”

In last year’s competition, seven videos made the final shortlist and the winner was Tran Nguyen Tuan Anh (see video above), who was studying art and design at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

The 2012 winner,  Ryan MacDowell, a 2012 graduate of Canada’s McGill University, has been viewed almost 12,000 times on YouTube.

Email your video to rankings@timeshighereducation.co.uk before 5 September 2014, ensuring your video does not exceed 20MB.

The rules

• Videos must be no longer than 30 seconds
• Video file size must not exceed 20MB
• Videos can be submitted in common digital video formats shot on digital cameras including video shot on iPhones. We cannot accept submissions from very old mobile phones
• Videos must be created specifically for this competition and must directly complete the sentence: “I love [name of university] because…”
• Videos must not be broadcast anywhere before Times Higher Education publishes them
• Videos must be emailed to rankings@timeshighereducation.co.uk by 5 September 2014
• All videos must include the university’s name or identity within the 30 seconds allocated
• The editor’s decision on the winning entry, and any that are featured on YouTube or the THE website or in the official launch video, will be final.

The small print

With respect to videos (‘content’) you submit, you grant TSL Education Ltd (‘TSL’) a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully sub-licensable right and licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all the rights to the content and can grant the rights set out above. You represent, warrant and undertake that: (i) use of the content will not infringe the rights of any third parties (including that the content or material is not defamatory); and (ii) you have obtained all rights and consents that are necessary for you to provide the content; and (iii) you will immediately remove and notify us of any content that does not does not comply with the terms of submitting content or may infringe the rights of third parties. You agree to indemnify TSL and its affiliates for all claims brought by a third party against TSL or its affiliates in respect of infringement of that third party’s intellectual property rights or arising out of or in connection with a breach of any of these warranties.