Punjab University beats IITs in THE World University Rankings 2013-14
This year’s Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings (2013-14) are out. And believe it or not but Chandigarh-based Panjab University (PU) has ranked higher than the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). PU made its debut in the elite rankings, securing a position between 226 and 250.
IIT-Delhi ranks in 351-400 group, while IIT Kanpur (another new entrant) ranks in 351-400 group. The other Indian institutes are IIT Kharagpur, which slipped from 226-250 to the 351-400 group, and IIT Roorkee, which remained in the 351-400 bracket like last year.
Top 20 universities across the world as per THE Ranking:
| Institute |
Rank 2013/14 |
Rank 2012/13 |
| California Institute of Technology, United States |
1 |
1 |
| Harvard University, United States |
2= |
4 |
| University of Oxford, United Kingdom |
2= |
2= |
| Stanford University, United States |
4 |
2= |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States |
5 |
5 |
| Princeton University, United States |
6 |
6 |
| University of Cambridge, United Kingdom |
7 |
7 |
| University of California, Berkeley, United States |
8 |
9 |
| University of Chicago, United States |
9 |
10 |
| Imperial College London, United Kingdom |
10 |
8 |
| Yale University, United States |
11 |
11 |
| University of California, Los Angeles, United States |
12 |
13 |
| Columbia University, United States |
13 |
14 |
| ETH Zürich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland |
14 |
12 |
| Johns Hopkins University, United States |
15 |
16 |
| University of Pennsylvania, United States |
16 |
15 |
| Duke University, United States |
17 |
23 |
| University of Michigan, United States |
18 |
20 |
| Cornell University, United States |
19 |
18 |
| University of Toronto, Canada |
20 |
21 |
California Institute of Technology, United States, maintained the top position for the third time in a row.Â
According to Elizabeth Gibney, THE reporter, “Worldwide, the US continues to top the rankings, boasting 77 top 200 institutions including the world number one, the California Institute of Technology (maintaining this status for the third year in a row). However, the rankings also show a continued shift in power from West to East, with universities in China, South Korea, Singapore and Japan making gains as the top universities in continental Europe fall.”
She further says, “The UK has maintained its global position, with 14 institutions climbing, 14 falling and three static in the top 200... Universities within London, Oxford and Cambridge – the “golden triangle” – have risen by six places on average, compared with a fall of two places among institutions in the rest of the country.”
According to THE rankings editor Phil Baty, “The U.S. remains the top country in the world for higher education... The top thirty is exceptionally stable. The much-heralded shift of power towards the East is still apparent but it’s slow, not quite as dramatic” (as heard in THE podcast).
