In a telling trend, Chandigarh University (CU), Mohali, spearheaded the region’s private universities in their rise up the QS Asia University Rankings 2023 published on Tuesday as Panjab University (PU) lagged — but, as a consolation, managed to retain its position in the 301-350 bracket.
As per the latest data, PU is now placed behind multiple private institutes of the region.
Chandigarh University made a big leap up the ladder, jumping from the 271-280 bracket to rank 185. This is the first time that the varsity has featured among the top 200 universities in Asia in the list.
Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala also had a significant rise to boast of, ranking 228 up from the 281-290 bracket.
Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan, which placed in the 271-280 bracket in the last edition akin to CU also made a slight improvement to land in the 251-260 bracket.
PU’s spiral
PU posted its best result in QS rankings back in 2014, when it landed in the 171-180 bracket. It had ranked in the 291-300 bracket in 2019 and 2020 editions, before slipping into the 301-350 range.
The varsity’s score in terms of international research network dipped from 52 to 34.1 between 2021 and 2022. The score in citations per paper also dipped from 35.6 to 30 in the period. The academic reputation figure, however, recorded a slight increase from 14.3 to 14.6 in the latest edition.
{{/usCountry}}The varsity’s score in terms of international research network dipped from 52 to 34.1 between 2021 and 2022. The score in citations per paper also dipped from 35.6 to 30 in the period. The academic reputation figure, however, recorded a slight increase from 14.3 to 14.6 in the latest edition.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking about the developments, PU teachers’ body president Mritunjay Kumar said, “We have a good teaching faculty and we are hopeful that we will bounce back with better results next time. However, there is an urgent need for the university administration to introspect as to why the University is continuing to slide down in various rankings.”
Published annually since 2009, the QS Asia University Rankings highlight the top universities in Asia each year. Among the indicators, academic reputation holds 30% weightage in the rankings, followed by employer reputation (20%) and International research network (10%). Citations per paper and paper per faculty is given 10% and 5% weightage respectively.
This year’s rankings feature over 760 Asian universities. IIT Bombay once again won the race for Indian varsities, ranking at 40, followed by IIT Delhi at 46.
PU’s let down in rankings this year
PU has fared poorly in various global and national rankings of late, with the varsity ranking in the 801-1,000 bracket, way behind private universities like Shoolini, in the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings released last month.
In June, PU once again failed to feature in the top 1,000 of the QS World University Rankings 2023. The varsity also slipped in the Union education ministry’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022 announced in July.