The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has become the first Indian educational institution to enter it to the top 10 of a global university ranking. It has been ranked 8th in the Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings, 2017 in the “best small universities” category. The top 10 elite list includes California Institute of Technology (Cal-tech) from the US, Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS), France and Pohang University of Science and Technology (PUST), South Korea. The first position is grabbed by Cal-Tech, USA while Pohang University of Science and Technology (PUST), South Korea is at the third position. Small universities are those with a student strength of lesser than 5,000. In this 2017 ranking, universities of France and Italy have taken 3 places in the top 10 list. Interestingly, none of these universities have more than three thousand students.
However, despite the new high, India has 2 misses this year. No other Indian University has managed to grab any position in the top 20 ranking, besides IISc. In 2016, there were two institutions from India, in the top 20, one Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, and another Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), which were ranked 14 and 18 respectively. Unfortunately, both the universities could not retain their positions in this year’s rankings.
Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has congratulated IISc, Bangalore. “It’s a good news that one of our Indian institutions has been ranked below 10, among the top 10 universities in the world. This shows our quality of education at all levels and increased focus on improvement in research and innovation,” said Mr Javedakar
The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings was founded in 2004 by the UK-based magazine. Every year, it provides the definitive list of the world’s best universities, evaluated across research, innovation, international outlook, teaching and reputation of a university.
IISc, Bangalore is a public university for higher education and scientific research. It was established in 1909 with active support from the Jamsedji Tata, the founder of TATA group and Sir Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. In 2015, it became the first Indian institute to be ranked among the top 100 in THE World University Rankings for engineering, science, and technology at 99th position.
According to Seeta Bhardwa, student editor at Times Higher Education (THE), “It is very important to provide students with a definitive ranking of best small universities in the world to ensure that we are providing as much information as we can to fulfill the students’ needs. The more information we can provide students, the clearer a picture they can receive about the best institution for them”.
“The world’s Best Small Universities for 2017 highlighted that small universities can provide high student satisfaction and good relationships between students and their professors. Many students are drawn to the higher teacher to student ratios and smaller class sizes. But a small university can provide a community-like feel.” Seeta Bhardwa said in a media statement.
