Two Indian institutions listed in Times Higher Education subject rankings

Indian Institute of Science (ranked 71) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (ranked 82) for computer science have made it to the subject rankings

Only two Indian institutions — Indian Institute of Science (ranked 71) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (ranked 82) for computer science have made it to the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-2017 by subject rankings.

IIT Bombay is one of the two institutions that have been feature in the Times Higher Education subject rankings this year.(HT file)

Carly Minsky, student content editor, Times Higher Education, says, “‘India has achieved its best performance yet in the subject rankings, with two institutions in the top 100 for computer science. This new ranking, which shines a spotlight on computer science and information technology, goes to show India’s strength in this specific area.”

Harvard and Stanford Universities have been ranked the best in the world for arts and humanities in the rankings. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, is the best institution for business and economics as per the ranking. University of Oxford, UK, is ranked number one in the clinical, pre-clinical and health category while ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, takes the top spot in computer science. US leads in the computer science category too with California Institute of Technology being ranked in the first place. Harvard University tops in the life sciences and physical sciences category as well. Stanford University is ranked the top institution in social sciences. Click here for detailed ranking.

Just 14 universities have made it to the top five of the eight subject rankings that cover arts and humanities; business and economics; clinical, pre-clinical and health; computer science; engineering and technology; life sciences, physical sciences; and social sciences. Two new subjects — business and economics and computer science — have been added this year.

The subject rankings are good news for ETH Zurich of Switzerland, which beats competition from the US and UK to top THE World University Ranking for computer science. The diverse list of institutions for computer science also features a number of young, rising universities from the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, many of which do not yet appear at the top of global university rankings. The University of Oxford, which became the first UK university to top the table, makes the top five in seven of the subject rankings – more than any other institution.

Many Asian universities have also risen up the subject rankings since last year, showing strong performance of the continent in the overall THE World University Rankings. China is the third most represented country in the list of best universities for engineering, ahead of Germany, Australia and Canada. Its top institution – Peking University – is in the top 20 for engineering and also for physical sciences and for business and economics. It is also now joint 35th for social sciences, up from joint 52nd last year, while Tsinghua University is 34th for physical sciences, up from 47th.