The 2011 Global Go To Think Tanks Report was formally launched last week at the National Press Club in DC and at the United Nations in New York and will be launched this week in Europe at the World Economic Forum and at the African Union meeting in Africa.

The report can be accessed at the Program’s website @ link above

The report’s publication is the culmination of an eight-month process involving the support of think tanks and experts from every region of the world. Despite the scope of the project, the rankings are conducted without the benefit of a full time staff or budget, instead made possible with the assistance of a group of research interns from the University of Pennsylvania and other colleges in the Philadelphia area.

Below is a snapshot of the range of experts and peer institutions participating in this year’s ranking process:

• 793 expert panelists for all the regional and functional research categories

• 150 journalists and scholars with expertise spanning politics, think tanks, and civil society

• 55 current and former directors of think tank programs and networks

• 40 public and private donors

• 100s of think tanks

• 25-30 intergovernmental organizations

• 120 academic institutions

• 6,545 think tanks from 182 countries were invited to participate in the process

• 1,500 plus individuals from 120 countries participated in the nominations and rankings process

• Think tanks were nominated, and subsequently ranked, in 30 categories

• A total of 5,329 think tanks were nominated

• A total of well over 25,000 nominations were received across the 30 categories

• 202 think tanks were nominated as the world’s top think tank