Times Higher Education has ranked UC Irvine 49th in its annual list of the world's top 200 universities, released today. Among social sciences programs ranked by the organization, UCI's School of Social Sciences came in 44th. The British magazine's 2010-11 World University Rankings are based on data provided by Thomson Reuters and an invitation-only reputation survey of more than 13,000 verified academics. "As global higher education is becoming more competitive than ever, inclusion in this year's ranking is an impressive achievement for any institution," said editor Phil Baty. According to the publication, the newly revamped rankings place less importance on reputation and heritage than in previous years and give more weight to research, teaching and knowledge transfer. UCI earned high marks for its research influence and international mix of staff and students.