Good news! IISc among top 15 world universities

For the first time, an Indian university has made it to the top 15 of the Times Higher Education University Rankings.
Vinay Umarji/Business Standard reports.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has, for the first time, broken into the top 15 universities in the latest Times Higher Education (THE)'s BRICS and Emerging Economies University Rankings 2017, on the back of improved scores for its teaching environment and research influence.

Following IISc is the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, which climbed three places to the 26th position, its highest ever rank, due to improved scores across all sections.

According to THE, India could soon overtake Taiwan as the second most-represented country in the top 200, behind China.

Overall, India has 19 universities in the top 200, up from 16 last year, while Taiwan has 21, down from 24.

"India is also making great strides. In fact, India could soon overtake Taiwan as the second most represented country in the top 200 of the table, behind China," said Phil Baty, editor of the THE World University Rankings.

"However, while the these two countries have improved their standing," Baty added, "the performance of the other BRICS nations is waning, largely due to increased competition as a result of expanding the list to rank 300 universities from 41 countries, up from 200 institutions in 35 nations last year."

According to Baty, THE's BRICS & Emerging Economies University Rankings 2017 uses the same 13 performance indicators as the overall World University Rankings which include teaching, research, international outlook and knowledge transfer and compete with other leading research universities across emerging economy countries.