Every year, the publication of academic rankings is reported with dismay in the Italian media due to the poor performance of our universities. This year was no exception. The largest Italian university, the Sapienza University of Rome, home to 2021 physics Nobel prize winner Giorgio Parisi, ranked 171st according to the QS ranking, just below Texas A&M (164th).

In the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking, Sapienza was in the 201-250 group alongside the University of Southern Florida. The position was slightly higher (101-150) according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), where Sapienza was ranked on par with the University of Utah.