NEW DELHI: Premier universities and institutions in India suffered an overall dip in the Asia 2027 rankings released by international higher education expert QS Quacquarelli Symonds. The silver lining for India is that five of its universities find place in the top ten in terms of research output, making India as Asia’s “most productive research hub.”
A total of 1,722 universities from 26 different higher education systems were assessed this year for the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2027. India was represented by 325 universities, an increase of 34 over the last year, while Mainland China had the most representation with 448 universities. Japan is placed a far third with 153 universities.
All six of India’s highest ranked universities in the past have slid from their spots last year. The top ranked university in the country is the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), which stands at the 66th position, a dip of seven spots from its 59th position last year. The other top ranked institutes in India are Indian Institute of Science, which stands at the 79th position; IIT-Bombay at the 83rd spot; IIT-Madras at the 85th rank; IIT-Kharagpur at the 90th rank; and IIT-Kanpur at the 97th spot.
Four universities figure in the 100 to 200 ranks with IIT-Guwahati at the 120th spot, IIT-Roorkee at the 124th spot, Vellore Institute of Technology at the 156th spot and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education at the 195th spot.
QS Quacquarelli Symonds gives weight to citations per paper, papers per faculty and academic reputation while deciding its comprehensive rank list. IIT-Delhi has scored poorly in the number of citations per paper, with a score of just 34.5 out of 100. This score seems to have pulled down its rank.
The ranking body says that India is emerging as a research powerhouse in Asia. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, tops the list in research output and the number of papers presented per faculty. IIT-Madras is placed third in this category. Five of the top ten spots in this segment are taken by Indian universities and institutions.
The country tops in doctorates too, the ranking agency notes. “This research output is supported by the region’s largest proportion of doctoral trained staff, with a whopping 15 Indian universities achieving a perfect score of 100 for Staff with a PhD and gains in research indicators,” said an official release from QS.
The University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong SAR China is at the No. 1 spot, while Peking University and Tsingua Univeristy in Beijing hold the second and third ranks respectively. Hong Kong has five universities in the top ten.
Six countries have improved overall: Macao SAR, Tajikistan, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Uzbekistan and Mainland China, while Maldives has made its debut in the ranking this year.
