QAU among world’s top 500 universities

The rankings list four Pakistani universities among the top 1,000 universities in the world


News Desk September 06, 2017
The rankings list four Pakistani universities among the top 1,000 universities in the world. PHOTO: EXPRESS

Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad has broken into the top 500 universities in the world, according to the latest rankings issued by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The rankings list four Pakistani universities among the top 1,000 universities in the world.

QAU had leapfrogged a number of universities to break into the top 500 this year, improving its ranking by 281 spots, from 746 to 465 this year.

Quaid-e-Azam University secures top slot in HEC university rankings

In doing so, it by passed the COMSATS Institute of Information technology (626 last year and 642 this year) and the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) (721 last year and 726 this year).

The Islamabad-based university found itself sandwiched between Qatar University from the Gulf country and the Reykjavik University of Iceland.

COMSATS, which slipped 16 spots, from 626 last year to 642 this year, found itself in the company of the Comenius University of Bratislava and Coventry University in the UK.

NUST, which slipped four ranking spots this year, was sandwiched between the National University of Science and Technology of Russia and the National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan.

The University of Agriculture in Faisalabad – the last Pakistani university in the top 1,000 this year – was the only one which maintained its position in the rankings, stagnant at 803. It found itself in between the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland and the Ain Shams University Egypt.

Compared to last year (ranking out of 981 global universities) when only seven Pakistani universities were included in the overall rankings, this year as many as 10 universities were included in the rankings.

These included the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Lahore, the PMAS Arid Agriculture University in Rawalpindi, the University of Peshawar, the University of Lahore, the Government College University of Lahore and the Bahauddin Zakariya University of Multan.

The University of Karachi, which was ranked at 868 last year, was curiously omitted from this year’s list.

From amongst the region, China had a whopping 60 universities among the top 1,000 varsities, including seven in the top 300 and two in the top 100.

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By contrast, India lists 30 universities in the top 1,000 of which one is the top 300 – Indian Institute of Science.

Iran lists 14 universities in the top 1,000, of which one is in the top 500 – Babol Noshirvani University of Technology.

Oxford University had topped the rankings for the first time in 14 years.

A few months ago, the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) - a British company which specialises in education and study abroad – had listed NUST among the top 500 universities in the world with QAU, Lahore University of Management Sciences, University of Engineering and Technology, University of Karachi and the University of Lahore all making it to QS’ list of top 1,000 varsities.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2017.

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