The IREG president, Prof. Luiz Claudio Costa was appointed first emeritus member of the RANKINTACS NETWORK - Brazilian Network of Research in Rankings, Indexes and Tables Classificatory in Higher Education*. The ceremony took place during the REDE RANKINTACS 2nd Seminar, held on  August 23rd, at the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas (PUC-Campinas), Campinas. Luiz Costa gave a lecture entitled "Academic Rankings in Higher Education: Trends and Perspectives" in which he highlighted the university rankings importance as another source of information available to university governance, as well as potential tool for improving institutions’ quality.

In addition to the participation of the coordinators and members of the REDE RANKINTACS, the ceremony was also attended by university authorities represented by Prof. Germano Rigacci Junior, magnificent Rector of PUC-Campinas.

For Adolfo Ignacio Calderón, REDE RANKINTACS academic coordinator and Post-Graduation Program in Education at PUC-Campinas full professor, the Dr. Luiz Claudio Costa appointment is a source of pride for all members of REDE RANKINTACS, not only for being profoundly aware of the ranking phenomenon in a global scope but also because he has an entire trajectory in university management and in actions implementation focused on excellence in Brazilian Higher Education. In this perspective, Dr. Lara Carlette Thiengo, Executive Secretary of REDE RANKINTACS, highlighted the IREG president pioneering initiatives, such as the attempt to implant in 2012 the project "Universities of Excellence - TOP 200" which aimed to focus on federal public universities to rank among the top 200 in the world government efforts.

According to Solange Santos, REDE RANKINTACS international relations coordinator, "The choice of a Brazilian to preside over the IREG is an excellent opportunity to build new attitudes and to undo the internationally disseminated perception that Latin America opposes itself the use of university rankings as tools for measuring performance at the global level, setting goals and improving the international insertion of universities".

In addition to this vision, Sabine Righetti, REDE RANKINTACS inter-institutional coordinator and responsible for the University RUF-Ranking University, produced and published by Folha de São Paulo newspaper, recalls that in 2013 she had the opportunity to participate in the IREG Annual Meeting in Warsaw, where she presented the RUF methodology and acquired a differentiated view of the expansion of academic rankings in the globalized world. Righetti emphasized the absence of Brazilian institutions in the IREG debates, in this sense he considers that "the presence of Dr. Luiz Claudio Costa, in the IREG presidency, represents the opportunity for a closer approximation between university authorities, researchers and operators of Brazilian rankings and this important international organization".

Prof. Luiz Cláudio Costa appointment as emeritus member was consensually celebrated by all members of REDE RANKINTACS. Armando Gonçalves, a member of REDE RANKINTACS, who is developing a PhD thesis at PUC-Campinas, says that " Dr. Luiz Cláudio appointment as a member of the emeritus strengthens and expands the REDE RANKINTACS as a catalytic and disseminating space for academic knowledge of a still incipient subject matter in Brazil and in Latin America. "

The REDE RANKINTACS was created in August 2017, based on the research project "Academic Rankings of the Private Sector in Brazil: Trajectory and Methodologies Adopted in a Comparative Perspective Compared to Ibero-American Space Rankings" coordinated by Dr. Adolfo Ignacio Calderón. The project is funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil's Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTI) agency. The RANKINTACS Network brings together managers, rankings operators, and researchers from various fields of knowledge (information sciences, social sciences, economics, statistics, journalism, pedagogy, psychology, among others) who are dedicated to the study, production and dissemination of scientific knowledge , based on empirical evidence, on RANKINTACS and its interfaces with university governance, the educational market, citizens' rights and national and international higher education policies. More information about the RANKINTACS Network: www.rederankintacs.org

*In Portuguese language: REDE RANKINTACS - Rede Brasileira de Pesquisa em Rankings, Índices e Tabelas Classificatórias na Educação Superior).