IISc Retains Top Position, 8 IITs in Overall List: THE World University Rankings

The majority of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have boycotted the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings for the third year in a row due to concerns about transparency, but the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has maintained its top spot among Indian institutions.

The IISc is ranked in the range of 251-300, making it the top Indian institution overall. According to a statement released by THE, the University of Oxford has emerged as the top institution globally among 1,799 universities from 104 countries.

The Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences (351-400 total), which debuted in the rankings, has grabbed the second spot among Indian colleges. In the universities category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022, the private institution with its headquarters in Himachal Pradesh is rated 96th.

But Shoolini University and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, another private university with its headquarters in Karnataka, share the top rank among Indian educational institutions. Algappa University, a public university in Tamil Nadu, placed third in India (401-500).

IIT Ropar won the second place in the Indian category last year, but it has dropped to sixth place this year and to the 501-600 band globally, down from the 351-400 band last year.

IIT Indore is ranked in the 601-800 band among the other IITs that participated in the rankings, followed by IIT Patna and IIT Gandhinagar in the 801-1000 band.

The rankings released by THE this year include eight IITs in total.

Teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), international outlook (7.5%), and industrial output (2.5%) are the criteria used to rank the institutes. A “reputational survey” has a 15% weight in both teaching and research.

The spokesperson added that the organisation held talks with the “IITs (and other institutions) on several occasions and continue to welcome discussions with them” on ironing out the differences

“As mentioned, we have given a detailed explanation of our rankings methodology, and have listened to their input. In the next edition of the ranking, to be launched next year, we have incorporated some of their suggestions,” the spokesperson said.

However, IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi maintained that the rankings suffer from a lack of transparency. IIT-B director Prof. Subhasis Chaudhury said, “There is no improvement in the transparency factor in their process. Directly a rank is allotted to the institute. We should know what the process is. There is no reason to participate without knowing what exactly we are participating in.”

The last time major IITs participated in THE rankings was in 2019 — the report (released as THE 2020 list) had placed IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi in the 401-500 overall band, behind the Ropar and Indore campuses.

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