Times World Rankings: Huge achievement for Pakistani institutions
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Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad has achieved the prestigious honor of being Pakistan's top-ranked university in the 2024 Times World University Rankings, securing the 401st position globally.
These rankings are meticulously compiled using THE's WUR 3.0 methodology, which assesses universities based on 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators spanning five critical domains: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.
The rankings, which had been eagerly awaited, encompassed 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions. Notably, Quaid-i-Azam University secured the 227th position for research quality among these criteria.
While Quaid-e-Azam University led the way for Pakistan, 14 other institutions also made significant appearances. These include Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Air University, Capital University of Science and Technology (CUST), COMSATS University Islamabad, UET Taxila, GC University Faisalabad, and NUST, all ranking within the 601-800 range.
Further down the rankings, institutions such as Bahria University, International Islamic University Islamabad, Islamia College Peshawar, University of Lahore, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), University of Malakand, University of Management and Technology, University of the Punjab, Institute of Space Technology, and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore secured positions in the 801-1000 range.
It's worth noting that although 49 Pakistani universities were acknowledged in the rankings, they were classified as "reporter" institutions, indicating that they provided the necessary data but did not meet the eligibility criteria for a specific rank.
This year's World University Rankings by THE involved extensive analysis, incorporating over 134 million citations from 16.5 million research papers and survey responses from 68,402 scholars worldwide.
A total of 411,789 data points were collected from more than 2,673 participating institutions, making it one of the most comprehensive and respected evaluations of global higher education institutions.
According to the rankings, the University of Oxford retains the top position, with seven U.S. universities occupying spots in the top 10. Additionally, the average rankings of universities in China, Australia, and Canada have improved. China now boasts 13 universities in the top 200, a significant increase from seven in 2020.
However, the study also reveals that the average rank of U.S. universities has declined, from 296 in 2019 to 348 in the latest rankings, while the UK's average rank has also dropped, from 451 to 477. Furthermore, Indian universities have suffered a decline of 14 positions in the ranking.
