THE World University Rankings 2023 | 12 Oct 2022

Why in News?

Recently, the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings 2023 were released.

What is Times Higher Education?

  • THE, formerly known as The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), is a magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
  • The Times Higher Education World University Rankings include 1,799 universities across 104 countries and regions, making them the largest and most diverse university rankings to date.
  • This is based on 13 performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook and is trusted worldwide by students, teachers, governments and industry experts.

What are the Key Highlights of the Ranking?

  • Parameters:
    • The parameters based on which the institutes are ranked are teaching (30%), research (30%), citations (30%), international outlook (7.5%), and industry outcome (2.5%). In teaching and research, 15% weightage each is based on a reputational survey.
  • Global Top Performer:
    • The University of Oxford has emerged as the best institute among 1,799 universities from 104 countries.
  • Indian Institutions:
    • Rankings: India is the sixth most represented country in the 2023 rankings with 75 ranked universities.
      • The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is at the top position among Indian institutes, for its performance score for teaching and research.
        • Globally, the IISc is placed in the 251-300 band.
        • IISc was the top-ranking Indian Institute in the 2022 rankings as well.
      • The second position among Indian institutions has been taken by Himachal Pradesh based Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences (351-400 overall), which made its debut in the rankings.
        • IIT Ropar which was the second highest ranking Indian institute in 2022 rankings, slipped to 6th position.
      • The third position is backed by Tamil Nadu’s Algappa University, a public institution.
    • Response from IITs: It has been boycotted by most Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the third consecutive year over transparency concerns.
      • The last time major IITs participated in the rankings was in 2019 when IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi were placed in the 401-500 overall band behind IIT Ropar and IIT Indore.

What are the Related Indian Initiatives?

  • Institutions of Eminence (IoE) Scheme: Institutions of Eminence (IoE) Scheme is a government scheme to provide the regulatory architecture for setting up or upgrading 20 Institutions (10 from the public sector and 10 from the private sector) as world-class teaching and research institutions called ‘Institutions of Eminence’.
  • National Education Policy, 2020: National Education Policy, 2020 aims to introduce several changes in the Indian education system - from school to college- and make India a global knowledge superpower.
  • Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT): Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) is a first-of-its-kind Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a new education policy and a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges that India must address and champion to enable, empower and encourage the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
  • Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY): Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) was announced with a view to promote innovation of a higher order that directly impacts the needs of the industry and thereby improves the competitive edge of Indian manufacturing.

Source: IE