Indian universities vis-à-vis global institutes J The long-anticipated improvement in Indian universities position in world rankings will have to wait at least another year: the country has held its own in todays QS World University Rankings, but still does not feature among the top 200 in stitutions. As last year, the topplaced Indian institution is 222nd in the world. But a new name occupies that position, with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) overtaking its counterpart in Delhi for the first time. IIT Delhi has been the leader in India throughout the first ten editions of the QS rankings, but has slipped to 235th this year, virtually exchangin this year, virtually exchanging positions in the table with IITB. IITBs success is down to improvements in its reputation among both academics and employers. It is now in the top 60 in the world in the QS international survey of employers and its position of 160th in the academic survey represents a rise of 23 places.But it has work to do on research citations and the proportions of international students and faculty, which are all outside the top 200, if it is to break into the leading positions in the ranking. The number of Indian institutions in the ranking has grown from 11 to 12, with Banaras Hindu University joining the group below 700th place. But the overall standing of the remaining institutions is similar to last year: six have gone up and five have gone down, with the two leading IITs well ahead of the rest. Indias strength is in the QS survey of academics, where the two leading IITs, the University of Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science all feature in the top 200.All but one of the Indian institutions in the ranking have improved on this measure a good foundation for the future since it is accounts for 40 per cent of each universitys score. They are much less competitive, however, in terms of the number of times their academics research is cited.No Indian institution is in the top 300 in the world on this measure, and five of the top six institutions have a lower ranking than last year. The weakest elements for India are the proportions of international staff and students. Although the two measures are lowly weighted, no Indian institution is ranked higher than 700th in either. Universities in the top 200 in the world all attract large numbers of international students, who normally pay higher fees than domestic students, while their international staff boost their citations and raise their profile overseas. The biggest improvements this year have come at IIT Guwahati and the University of Calcutta, IIT Kharagpur and the University of Delhi. IIT Roorkee has experienced the biggest fall while the IITs at Kanpur and Madras have dropped only marginally and are at 300th and 322nd, respectively. Indian universities and IITs are better represented in the QS rankings than the other international comparisons of universities. Both Prime Minister Modi and President Mukherjee have received personal briefings from the company in recent months. Ben Sowter, who is responsible for the rankings as head of the QS Intelligence Unit, said: India may not have made as much progress as it would have liked in the new rankings, but new measures always take time to be reflected in higher positions. Indian universities are engaging with the rankings more than ever before and this should bear fruit in the medium term.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 01:59:30 +0000
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