NEW DELHI: Finally, an Indian institution makes it into the list of global top 100 rankings. Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc) has been featured at 99th rank in the Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings.
The Time Higher Education released its latest rankings in the field of engineering and technology, here on Wednesday. The rankings showcased a very outstanding year for Asian universities.
Amongst the ranked colleges, the top 10 rankings were again swept away by US Universities, including the likes of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology and Stanford University in the top 3 positions. However, the overall trend has seen an impressive improvement for Asian Universities. The total number of Asian colleges in top 100 has increased from 18 last year to 25 this year. The total number of US universities has seen a decline from 34 last year to 31 this year.
A total of 6 Asian universities have featured in the top 30. Japan, China, Korea, India and Taiwan have all improved upon their representation, while Singapore and Hong Kong have held onto their previous year's status.
Phil Baty, editor, The World University Rankings, said that The Times Higher Education rankings for engineering and technology apply verymeticulous standards, using global benchmarks including teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international attitude. Although the parameters employed are the same as those used in their flagship World University Rankings, but they have been precisely recalibrated to fit a research culture.
He mentioned that India has impressed significantly in this year's evaluation, finally making its debut in the top 100. India's forte has consistently been on the rise in technical disciplines, either in the contemporary fields of IT or Aerospace, or conventional fields like steelmaking. People from India are now leading the world's largest companies like Google, Microsoft, Mittal, Tata and Infosys. These people have truly showcased India's engineering and technological prowess on a global level.
Six Asian universities - the National University of Singapore, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, Peking and Tsinghua Universities from China and Korea's Seoul National University have made it to the top 30 this year. This exemplifies Asia's strong progress in shifting the balance of power from the US and the UK, proving their mettle in possessing world class institutions. This serves as a notice of caution for US and European institutions, who will now need to get on their toes to sustain their current standings.