Canada's McGill University wins World University Rankings' video competition

28 November 2012

One of the greatest strengths of the higher education world is its diversity - and this shone through in a competition asking filmmakers to describe what it is that makes their institution world class

The competition, set up to mark the launch of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013 on 3 October 2012, attracted dozens of entries from all around the world. Some 14 videos which made the final long-list represented institutions in Australia, Canada, China, Estonia, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, the US and UK.

The videos, which were restricted to just ten seconds, had collectively accumulated almost 25,000 views on the video sharing website You Tube as Times Higher Education went to press.

The winning entry, made by Ryan MacDowell, a 2012 graduate of Canada's McGill University who now works in its student services department, had attracted more than 7,000 views as the academic community at McGill got behind the competition and shared the video on social networking sites.

The McGill video drew on the strapline "the real world is now". Using a split screen technique, it said that McGill was the university "where the imaginary line drawn between student life and the real world doesn't exist".

Winning video maker MacDowell wins an iPad for his entry.

Phil Baty, editor of the THE World University Rankings, said: "We liked Ryan's video a lot - it had strong production values, a clear simple and compelling message, it gave a good taste of campus life at McGill - and all in just ten seconds. It was also produced not by a marketing team or PR department, but by a committed graduate with an enthusiasm for film."

The competition was open to anyone who studies or works at a university anywhere in the world. Entrants were challenged to complete the sentence, "my university is world class because..." in no more than 10 seconds.