QS World Rankings 2024: Panjab University moves up the ladder, now in 1,001-1,200 bracket

Last year, it was placed in the 1,201-1,400 category; for the last few years, it had been consistently slipping in the rankings

Panjab University (PU) was able to reverse its trend of slipping rankings, and climb to the 1,001 to 1,200 bracket in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, 2024, released on Wednesday.

Chandigarh-based Panjab University is one of the pioneer educational institute of the country. HT Photo

PU had been on a downward spiral for years, sliding from the 701+ category in 2016 and 2017 to the 1,201-1,400 category in 2023 (see box).

PU’s jump in rankings can be attributed to improved scores in all parameters of the rankings as compared to last year. In academic reputation, PU improved from 5.5 to 6.7. In employer reputation, it improved from 3.2 to 5.9. In faculty-student ratio, it improved from 5.2 to 5.6. In citations per faculty, it improved from 17 to 21. In international students’ ratio, it improved from 1.7 to 1.8.

Three new parameters were introduced in the rankings this year. These include international research network in which PU scored 1.9, employment outcomes in which it got 29.8 and sustainability in which it got 2.2.

Speaking about the result, PU vice-chancellor Renu Vig said, “This is an encouraging result for us and we had been working in a focused manner on all the parameters to improve the varsity’s rankings.”

Private universities of the region, including Chandigarh University (CU), Gharuan, and Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan, also improved on their rankings and were placed in the 771-780 bracket. Both had been in the 801-1000 bracket last year. Only one Indian university, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay made it to the top 150 of the world rankings, by clinching the 149th spot. A total of 45 Indian universities made it to these rankings.