UAE universities rise in global education rankings

Khalifa University tops the country ahead of United Arab Emirates University, with the University of Sharjah also sealing its spot

Nandini Sircar

Published: Wed 17 May 2023, 3:33 PM

Three UAE universities, led by Khalifa University, feature this year in the 2023 edition of the Global 2000 list by the Center for World University Rankings.

Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa University has risen 23 spots to 892nd with an improvement in research performance.

Al Ain’s United Arab Emirates University climbs 5 places to 1178th, while University of Sharjah improves 121 spots to 1399th. These figures are according to CWUR, which is the publisher of the largest academic ranking of global universities. It analysed 62 million outcome-based data points to rank universities from around the world.

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Overall, the UAE is improving against rivals worldwide, with its three leading universities all rising in the standings on the back of a stronger showing in research performance.

There were several yardsticks like quality of education, employability, quality of faculty, and research performance, against which these universities have been ranked.

25 per cent is attributed to quality of education; another 25 per cent has been attributed to employability, with 10 per cent and 40 per cent given to the faculties' quality and research performance respectively.

This year, 20,531 universities were ranked, and those placed at the top made the Global 2000 list – which includes institutions from 95 countries.

The methodology

CWUR uses seven objective and outcome-based indicators grouped into four areas to rank the world’s universities.

The ‘education’ category is based on the academic success of a university’s alumni and measured by the number of alumni who have received top academic distinctions relative to the university's size.
Employability is assessed based on the professional success of a university’s alumni, and measured by the number of alumni who have held top company positions relative to the university's size.
The quality of faculty is measured by the number of faculty members who have received top academic distinctions.
The research output of the university is also vetted, accounting for the total number of research articles. Under this, high-quality publications are taken into consideration while ranking the universities. It is measured by the number of research articles appearing in top-tier journals.

The articles are based on ‘influence’, which is assessed by the number of research articles appearing in highly influential journals. Additionally, citations are equally important to gauge the number of highly cited research articles.

Roundup:

Global top ten

For the twelfth year in a row, Harvard is the top university in the world. It is followed by two other private US institutions, MIT and Stanford, while the UK’s Cambridge and Oxford – ranking fourth and fifth respectively – are the world’s top public higher educational institutions. The rest of the global top ten is rounded out by private US universities: Princeton, Chicago, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Yale.

The US

The US, despite claiming eight of the top ten places globally, is struggling to maintain its dominance against rivals worldwide, with nearly eighty per cent of American universities slipping down. In the Global 2000, only 49 US institutions improve from last year, with 21 maintaining their spots, and 262 falling down the standings.

All Ivy League institutions feature in the global top 70 this year. The top US public university is Berkeley, ranking 12th worldwide – one spot behind Caltech. Overall, the US is the most represented country in the Global 2000 with 332 representatives – three less than last year. Canada has 40 institutions in the table, led by the University of Toronto at number 23.

Europe:

In the United Kingdom, Cambridge and Oxford’s success masks the decline of nearly sixty percent of UK institutions in the rankings. In the Global 2000, only 32 universities improve from last year, with 6 maintaining their spots, and 55 falling down the standings.

Of the Russell Group’s 24 research-intensive universities, 6 institutions rank better compared to last year, 4 maintain their spots, and 14 rank lower. Overall, the UK has 93 representatives – one less than last year – in the Global 2000.

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