No Indian university features among the top 200 institutions across the world, according to the latest world rankings released on Tuesday.
The QS World University Ranking 2014, for the third consecutive year, is led by MIT. At number two is the University of Cambridge, followed by Imperial College, London, Harvard University and University of Oxford.
The Bombay and Delhi IITs have virtually swapped places in the ranking, but are still well ahead of the rest. The number of Indian institutions in the ranking has grown from 11 to 12, with Banaras Hindu University joining the group below 700th place.
None of the Indian institutions are in the top 300, in terms of citations — a measure to check the quality of research papers published. Five of the top six institutions from India have a lower score than last year.
The weakest elements for India are the proportion of international staff and students. Universities in the top 200 in the world attract large numbers of international students, who normally pay higher fees than domestic students, while their international staff boost their citations and raise their profile overseas.
Karthick Sridhar, vice-chairman, Indian Centre for Assessment and Accreditation said, “With increasing globalisation of higher education, Indian universities need to compete to attract the best students, as well as best qualified faculty from across the world.”
{{/usCountry}}Karthick Sridhar, vice-chairman, Indian Centre for Assessment and Accreditation said, “With increasing globalisation of higher education, Indian universities need to compete to attract the best students, as well as best qualified faculty from across the world.”
{{/usCountry}}Ben Sowter, who is responsible for the rankings as the head of the QS Intelligence Unit, said, “Indian universities are engaging with the rankings more than ever before and this should bear fruit in the medium term.”