Times Higher Education University Rankings 2018: IISc, IIT Bombay among top universities

Forty-two Indian higher educational institutions have shown noteworthy improvement in their positions — a significant increase from 27 in the previous year — in the latest Times Higher Education Emerging Economies University Rankings 2018 that was announced on Wednesday.

“India has reached a pivotal juncture. It is ambitious and has undoubtedly the potential to emerge as a key player in global higher education in the coming years,” Phil Baty, editorial director of the THE Global Rankings, said in a statement.

“The government’s Institutions of Eminence initiative could certainly elevate selected universities on the global stage and may begin to narrow down the gulf with China in this ranking. But sustained investment, a relentless drive to attract leading global talent, and a reinforced emphasis on international benchmarking will be crucial to realising its global ambitions,” he added.

Four Indian intuitions were ranked among the top 50 in the rankings, while top 100 list has eight from India. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore is ranked on 13th position (up from 14), while Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay is ranked on 26th position and IIT Kharagpur is ranked at 45th position.

“As against only 27 in 2017, 42 Indian Institutions figure in @timeshighered #EconomiesUniversityRanking2018 .This reflects growing competitive zeal and the cultural change infused by @narendramodi Government among Indian HE institutions. #TransformingEducation #THEemerging,” Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a series of tweets.

With its improvement in research influence and citations, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela was the highest riser with a jump of 57 positions.

With its teaching environment and research influence, Tezpur University has climbed 41places to break into the Top 100 at the joint 99th place.

“The quest for better ranking has led to Indian Higher Education institutions setting up special internal committees for continuous monitoring of the performance of their respective institution’s performance in various spheres,” Javadekar said in another tweet.

Overall, 42 Indian institutions participated in the ranking this year and were competing against 350 universities and institutions from 42 emerging economies, including China, Taiwan, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia.

On the other side, many well-known and previously ranked Indian institutions slipped in this year’s rankings with IIT Madras and IIT Delhi falling out of Top 50. Though India remained the third most represented country in the Top 200 – behind China and Taiwan – but it has slipped to the 17th spot from 19th.

The institutes to enter the rankings for the first time this year include IIT (ISM) Dhanbad at the joint 146th place, IIT-BHU, Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Kerala and Pondicherry University in 201-250 band, and Thapar University and VIT are in the 251-300 group.

Other institutes that have entered the rankings this year include Annamalai University, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Anantapur, University of Mysore and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in the 301-350 band, while GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, GITAM University, PSG College of Technology, SASTRA University, Sathyabhama University and SRM University bring up the rear in the 351+ group.

However, China dominated the ranking with representing 63 institutions — up from 52 in the previous year. For the fifth consecutive year, Peking University led the table with Tsinghua University ranked at number 2.

According to the ranking, selected universities from Brazil, Chile, Cyprus, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and South Africa have made big gains.

Times Higher Education University Rankings: List of top 10 Indian institutions

13. Indian Institute of Science Bangalore

26. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

45. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

49. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

56. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

63. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

70. Indian Institute of Technology Madras

99. Tezpur University

114. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

117. Jadavpur University

Times Higher Education University Rankings: List top 10 universities

1. Peking University, China

2. Tsinghua University, China

3. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation

4. Fudan University, China

5. University of Science and Technology of China, China

6. Zhejiang University, China

7. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

8. Nanjing University, China

9. University of Cape Town, South Africa

10. National Taiwan University, Taiwan