Only 2 Indian institutes make it to top 300 in Times ranking

Indian Institute of Science debuts on list of best institutions, joins Panjab University between 276th and 300th spot

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has made its debut in Times Higher Education's ranking of the world's best universities, taking India's representation in top 300 to two. IISc shares its number-one position among Indian institutions with Panjab University, which first appeared on the list last year.

The bad news, however, is that no Indian institution figures among top 200 globally. And, IISc's position, along with Panjab University's, is between 276th and 300th. This also means the latter's ranking has slipped from last year, when it was between 226th and 250th.

The total number of institutions ranked worldwide is 400. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings uses 13 separate performance indicators to examine a university's strengths against its core missions: Teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The top-200 list now features 28 countries, compared with 26 last year - Italy and Russia joined this year. Participation in the rankings is voluntary and free of charge.

There are 11 countries with one representative each in the top 200. There is an equal number keeping India company with no presence in top 200 - Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Iran, Macau, Poland, Portugal and Thailand.

Last year, four Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) - Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur and Roorkee - figured in the 351-400 ranking band. IIT Bombay has joined the list in this band this year (it wasn't ranked last year). IIT Roorkee has retained its place this year, too. Till the time of going to press, it was not known whether the other three IITs had made it to the rankings or some other Indian institutes had joined the list for top 400.

Many leading Asian institutions, meanwhile, continue to go up the order. The number of Asian universities in top 200 has risen to 24 (from last year's 20). Of these, six are among top 50 and two among top 25.

Last year, with two of its universities in top 200 and six in the 201-400 band, China scored better than India. Also, Taiwan had one university in top 200 and seven in the 251-400 band.

"It is good news that India now has two universities in top 300, against only one last year. This is thanks to the participation of IISc, which can now be included in the analysis after starting to admit undergraduate students," says Phil Baty, editor, Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Baty, however, says it should be a cause for serious concern that a country of India's size, which is growing in economic strength and has a great intellectual history, still does not have a top-200 entrant. "It does not seem to be making enough progress up the rankings. The world rankings are extremely competitive, as many countries put serious resources into improving the global profile and performance of universities, as part of their economic growth plans; India needs to ensure it does not fall far behind."

Commenting on this year's rankings, a director at one of the IITs said India would soon have its own ranking for universities in the country. "The ranking parameters used by global agencies often go against Indian universities. This is one of the prime reasons why our higher educational institutions are not able to get higher rankings in these surveys."

Japan's University of Tokyo retains its position as Asia's number one and 23rd globally. But of Japan's five universities in top 200, four have lost ground against other Asian nations like China, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The National University of Singapore, though, closed in on Tokyo this year, moving up one notch to 25th. Another Singapore university in top 200, Nanyang Technological University, rose from 76th to 61st.

The University of Hong Kong maintained its position at 43rd in the world, while the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology moved up from 57th to 51st. Another of the country's institutions, City University Hong Kong, regained its position in the list, at 192nd place.

Overall, California Institute of Technology holds on to its number-one spot globally for a fourth straight year, ahead of Harvard University (second) and University of Oxford (third).

London has the greatest concentration of first-class universities, with four in the top 40 - more than any other city in the world. The number of the city's institutions figuring among top 200 is seven, the same as the whole of France and more than China, Japan, Sweden and Korea.

Among countries, the US continues to dominate the rankings, with seven of its universities among top 10, and 15 among top 20. However, in a larger frame, it has lost significant ground this year: The number of its universities in top 200 has slipped to 74 from 77 last year.

In another set of rankings, published last month by QS World University, too, India had not figured in top 200. However, IIT Bombay, had for the first time emerged as India's leading university.

IIT-B overtook its Delhi counterpart to stand 222nd, while IIT Delhi slipped one notch to 235th. In QS rankings' 10 editions so far, IIT Delhi had been leading the pack. While University of Calcutta jumped 50 ranks to be placed 650th, University of Delhi jumped 20 ranks to 430th.

The number of Indian institutions in the ranking grew from 11 to 12. IIT Kanpur, which ranked 300th globally, was followed by IIT Madras (321), IIT Kharagpur (324), IIT Roorkie (461) and IIT Guwahati (551). Banaras Hindu University joined the group below the 700th place.