AHC: non-US/UK no.1 University

Given the contributions of the 18th and 19th century across a wide variety of disciplines, it is kind of surprising Germany doesnt have higher rated institutions. WWI and WWII did them in?
 
Given the contributions of the 18th and 19th century across a wide variety of disciplines, it is kind of surprising Germany doesnt have higher rated institutions. WWI and WWII did them in?
Maybe their talent is spread across too many separate establishments for any one place to qualify?
 
OK, here's a flight of fancy. I doubt it stands up to scrutiny, but it's really meant as an entertaining diversion that spurs discussion, rather than a serious treatise - otherwise I'd use sources more reliable than Wikipedia and a Bernard Cornwell novel's postscript...
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*Back when telephone directories were printed on dead trees, if you looked in the Yellow Pages in the UK under "Boring", it said "See Civil Engineering".
Well, this was more than I would've expected. Thank you very much. The Timeline will not be televised. :D:D:D
On a more serious note, this sounds very interesting although I would believe that it may depend on how big the "Chilean Empire" is- does it have access to the Panama Isthmus? Does it cover both the Atlantic and Pacific? Does it, by any chance, cover most of Latin America? :D:D:D
This sounds something very interesting, as Spanish is certainly a very prevalently spoken language- we might even see prospective Spanish students coming to Chile to study nuclear physics ITTL :D:D
 
Maybe their talent is spread across too many separate establishments for any one place to qualify?
That is an important part. In higher education Germans are very egalitarian. Essentially everybody should be able to receive within his own abilities a comparable education everywhere. Of course single universities are considered especially good in a certain field, but not overall. The idea of Elite Universities, which receive more money than average, was not really welcomed by anybody, when it was raised a few years back.

And of course there is the question what defines an excellent university. The German ideals in that regard differ greatly from say the French model or that of the Anglosphere. In the Bologna process the German courses were aligned more to the American model and consensus is that now studying is maybe harder in some regards, but that on average the new degrees are not as much worth as older ones, because they leave less room for things considered central in the German understanding of higher education. Thus I can imagine (and have heard personal opinions to that end from students who were there) that as educational institution American universities would not be rated as high following German (or other) ideals.
 
What about the University of Tokyo apart from Zurich it is the highest non-US/UK/Can university, its the premier university in a rich country that places a very high value on education. With the right funding and policy setup it should be able to match Oxford and Berkley. Alternatively give Tsinghua University a few decades.

Then again in the US/UK model of a few elite universities and a lot of crap ones better than the French/German model of lots of okay universities? I personally think it is but then I'm British and went to a good uni, maybe China will disagree.
 
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I really think the only reason the top US/UK universities are the most highly regarded worldwide is the modern linguistic domination of English brought about by Anglo-American cultural and political domination during the 19th and 20th Centuries.

In a Francophone world, the top university would be in France or a wealthy French-speaking country. In a world where the international trade language is Polish, the top university would be in Poland.
 
Post-1700 is actually fairly easy. Have the French more conclusively win the War of the Spanish Succession - an outright annexation or personal union with Spain is unlikely, but have fewer concessions to the anti-French powers, and have France develop the stable, dominant world empire over the next two centuries. Hell, even losing the War of the Spanish Succession rather than winning, or merely having a Louis XV besides the one who took the throne IOTL, thus not having his long minority leading to the state's situation vis a vis the nobility over the rest of the 18th century, could give a kick in the pants to the French state. Throw in a larger amount of internal instability in Great Britain - more successful Jacobite rebellions, perhaps - and American colonies that never form a single unified country, and, well, that's all there is to it.

By modern times, French could be a or the dominant language of education, rather than English, and Francophone universities would be the most prestigious - be they in France, Canada or somewhere else.
 
What about the University of Tokyo apart from Zurich it is the highest non-US/UK/Can university, its the premier university in a rich country that places a very high value on education. With the right funding and policy setup it should be able to match Oxford and Berkley. Alternatively give Tsinghua University a few decades.

Then again in the US/UK model of a few elite universities and a lot of crap ones better than the French/German model of lots of okay universities? I personally think it is but then I'm British and went to a good uni, maybe China will disagree.

China follows the US/UK model, with many more crap unis.
 
I thinked in Charles University in Prague, the alma mater of Jan Hus (its really old).

A POD for this could be a stronger Bohemian Kingdom than OTL.
 
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