London, 22 November 2017: Two Indian Institutes place among the top 10 QS World University Rankings: BRICS  2018– one more than last year. Indian Institute of Technology  (IIT) Bombay and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore breaks into the top ten BRICS university list.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts, have today released the 2018 edition of the QS World University Rankings: BRICS. The table, which is designed to provide insight into the comparative performance of universities in Brazil, China, India, Russia, and South Africa.

IIT Bombay rises from 13^th to 9^th, thus making its first-ever appearance in the top ten of this table. It is joined by IISc Bangalore, which falls from 6^th to 10^th. The table is led once again by China’s Tsinghua University, and Chinese institutions take 4 of the top 5 places.

Two more Indian institutions feature in the top 20: IIT Delhi, which falls to 17^th from 15^th; and IIT Madras, which rises from 19^th to 18^th.

India’s strength, relative to universities in other BRICS nations, lies in the fact that its universities have high proportions of qualified faculty. 15 Indian universities receive a perfect score of 100/100 for QS’s Staff with PhD indicator.

The research productivity of India’s universities is also one of its strengths. Three Indian universities – IISc Bangalore, Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai, and IIT Delhi – receive 100/100 for Papers per Faculty. Additionally, all of the top seven scores for this indicator are achieved by Indian universities;

However, the quantity of Indian research is greater than its quality, on average. QS’s Citations per Paper metric measures the impact of a university’s research output. No Indian entrant achieves a top-10 score for this indicator, which is dominated by Chinese universities;

In total, 65 Indian universities are ranked. This is more than Brazil (61) and South Africa (12), but fewer than Russia (68) and China (94).

Ben Sowter, Research Director at QS, said: “This ranking allows Indian policymakers, academics, and administrators to measure the performance of their higher education system against competitors with similar aspirations. The 2018 edition indicates that Indian universities – should they wish to compete with the dominant Chinese system – need to implement frameworks that encourage the production of high-impact research. Creating extensive international research networks allows collaboration, and ensures that research receives a wider reach. Doing so will assist India’s best universities as they attempt to become more globally-competitive.”

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2017  http://www.TopUniversities.com/