New Delhi, October 17: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay has for the first time made it to the list of the world’s top 200 universities in the QS World University Rankings 2018. The premier engineering institute has jumped from its 219th position last year to 179th spot, joining IIT Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore, in the league of the top 200 institutes of the world.
IIT Delhi moves up
While IIT Delhi has moved up from last year’s 185th rank to 172nd this time, the IISc has climbed up 38 places from 190th last year to occupy the 152nd spot. It is the first time in more than a decade that these three universities have made it to the top 200.
“The improved ranking is the reflection of continuous improvement of the quality of education and research at IIT-B”, stated IIT-B Director Devang Khakhar on the QS results.
UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) WUR, a British agency, ranks higher educational institutes, based on six performances parameters such as research, teaching, employability and internationalism, along with a 40-point weightage to the institute’s stature.
While in the global tables, academic reputation carries 40 per cent weightage, the Indian edition gives 30 per cent points to the stature of an institute. The India University Rankings is the second country-specific rankings done by QS, after releasing a similar list for China on October 10. Japan and North Korea are likely to follow.
IITs dominate top 10 Indian institutions
The top 10 Indian institutions include seven IITs, with the IITs at Madras, Delhi, Kharagpur and Kanpur standing third, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the rankings
According to QS, a variation in performance is seen across institutes as the criteria for global and domestic rankings are different. “The World University Rankings focus on research impact (citations per faculty) and the domestic league looks at research productivity (number of papers per faculty),” Simona Bizzozero, Communications Director of QS, told a leading newspaper daily.
“Countries like India and China are important for us because of the sheer number of domestic and foreign students. It makes sense for us to start domestic tables for the largest student markets. The India University Rankings look at the Indian university system with an international lens,” Bizzozero added.