TWENTY-FIVE PROGRAMMES — mostly in engineering — offered by higher education institutions in India rank among the top 100 in the world in their respective subject categories, according to the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Last year, this number stood at 26.
While the number of Indian universities/ institutes in the top 100 subject rankings has increased from eight to 12 this year, IIM-Calcutta, which is embroiled in a turf war between its Board and director, suffered its worst-ever ranking. While IIM-Ahmedabad, IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Lucknow and IIM-Kozhikode have more or less maintained their positions in the Business and Management Studies category, IIM-Calcutta slipped from the 101-150 band last year to 451-500 band this time.Except one, all the 25 programmes are in institutions run by either the state or union government. The O P Jindal Global University is the only private university to have entered the top-100 club. Its law programme is now ranked 76th globally. And, interestingly, 17 of the 25 globally ranked Indian programmes are in engineering. IIT-Madras’s Petroleum Engineering programme registered the best performance among Indian institutes — 30th in the world.
The four new universities/ institutes in the top 100 subject rankings are: IIT-Guwahati (for petroleum engineering), Jawaharlal Nehru University (anthropology), Anna University (petroleum engineering), and O P Jindal Global University (law).
IIT-Bombay has cornered more top 100 positions than any other Indian institution. Seven of its programmes (art and design; computer science and information systems; chemical engineering; civil and structural engineering; electrical and electronic engineering; mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering and mineral and mining engineering) are among the best 100 in the world. Last year, it had nine — chemistry and materials science engineering do not feature in the top 100 this year.
IIT-Delhi has four programmes among the top 100 and IIT-Madras has three. IIT-Kharagpur and IISc Bangalore have recorded two programmes each. IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Bangalore are ranked 80 and 76, respectively, for business and management studies.
While the public Institutions of Eminence (IoE) such as the IITs are better-represented in the QS World University Rankings, the private ones have made a mark in the Subject Rankings edition. Among the private IoEs, Birla Institute of Technology and Science has entered the rankings (151- 200 band) for Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Mathematics (451-500 band) and Business and Management Studies (451-500 band). Jamia Hamdard and Manipal Academy of Higher Education have been placed in the 101-150 band and 151-200 band, respectively for Pharmacy and Pharmacology. The Vellore Institute of Technology has broken into the top 300 for Electrical and Electronic Engineering (251-300 band).
QS World University Rankings by subject calculate performance based on four parameters — academic reputation, employer reputation, research impact (citations per paper) and the productivity of an institution’s research faculty.
Source: Indian Express, 5/03/21
