Times Higher Education launched the inaugural BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings at a special round table event at Koç University, in Istanbul last week – and the results made news headlines around the world.
The launch, chaired by Koç University president Umran Ä°nan, was attended by several Turkish university presidents and representatives from Russia, Brazil, India and elsewhere. It included a detailed presentation of the prestigious Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies Rankings 2014, and an open debate about the specific challenges and opportunities facing universities in emerging economies.
The release of the world’s first university ranking dedicated to the BRICS countries and other emerging economies set the news agenda around the world.
China’s Xinhua news agency reported that China had emerged on top in the rankings with Peking University and Tsinghua University listed as number one and two. In total, the Chinese mainland claimed six spots in the top 20 rankings, 15 top 50, and 23 top 100 institutions. China’s People’s Daily noted the importance of a strong government-led commitment to investing to create world-class universities as key to China’s success.
In India, The Hindu repoted that Indian institutions account for 10 per cent of the top 100 list, but do not make the cut for the top 10.
The Moscow Times celebrated the appearance of Moscow State University in the top ten of the prestigious new list.
South Africa’s Mail & Guardian noted that South Africa had five institutions in the top 100 list. University of Witwatersrand vice chancellor Adam Habib, whose university was ranked in 15th, welcomed the result and said the rankings could influence the university’s ability to attract “top staff from around the world to our country”.
Gerda Kruger, University of Cape Town executive director, told the Mail & Guardian: “it is pleasing to see new ranking systems developed that start to take into account the various contexts within which different countries operate.” "A good performance in international rankings does assist in sending out the message that a world-class education is available in South Africa. Equally, prospective students and staff the world over use the rankings to decide where they wish to study and advance their academic careers."
See below for a gallery of images from the launch event.
