NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru bettered its position in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 and was the only Indian university in the top 300 list.
The announcement came even as several IITs, including Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Madras, Kharagpur and Roorkee, continued to boycott the rankings for the third year in a row citing issues of 'transparency' in the ranking parameters.
But despite the boycott, seven IITs have made it this time. These are IIT Ropar 501-600), IIT Indore (601-800), IIT Gandhinagar ((801-1000), IIT Patna (801-1000), IIT Bhubaneswar (1001-1200, IIT Guwahati (1001-1200), which re-joined this year after its absence for two years, and IIT Mandi (1001-1200). Last year the top position was bagged by IIT Ropar (351-400) and 14th globally, but it slipped from its position this year.
With 75 institutes featuring in THE’s 2023 ranking, India became the 6th most represented country in the list. In 2020, 56 universities participated, and just 31 in 2017.
IISc has been placed in the 251-300 bracket, jumping one ranking band from last year and the only Indian institute in the top 300 list.
Five Indian universities made it into the world's top 500 universities - JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysore, Karnataka (351-400); Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan, Himachal Pradesh; Alagappa University, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu (401-500), up one group from last year; and Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Kottayam, Kerala.
MGU, which was tied at the third spot, jumped two ranking bands. From 601-800 in the 2022 ranking to 401-500 in the 2023 edition.
A total of nine Indian institutions are in the world top 600, up from just six last year. In total, 22 Indian universities made it below rank 800 - three of which were first-time entries.
Among the six universities, which made their debut in THE rankings this year, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences (351-400 band), a private university, got the highest ranking among new entrants. It jumped straight to the joint second-highest spot in the country.
However, universities ranked lower in the India Rankings by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), conducted by the education ministry to rank higher educational institutes in the country, as well as the QS World University Rankings 2023 have raced ahead of higher education institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Benaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University in the Times Rankings.
Both THE and QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) are based in London and are two most prominent higher-education surveys in the world.
Globally, the University of Oxford continued to retain the top spot for the seventh consecutive year, while the University of Cambridge jumped to joint third from joint fifth last year. The US is the most-represented country overall with 177 institutions in the overall ranking list.
A record number of 1,799 universities from 104 countries and regions are ranked, 137 more than last year. The number of US universities represented in the top 100 continues to fall, from a peak of 43 in 2018 to 34 this year.
The rankings are based on 13 parameters that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.