This year’s edition of the QS University Rankings: BRICS, a dedicated ranking of the top universities in the five BRICS countries, will be published on 20 July 2016. Previously featuring 200 leading institutions across Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, this year will see the list extended to 250.
Developed in collaboration with Russian news agency Interfax in 2013, this annual ranking provides an overview of higher education leaders in the five BRICS nations, as well as facilitating more in-depth comparisons. It draws on eight key performance indicators, reflecting global reputation, internationalization, academic staff levels, and research production and impact.
What did the results show in 2015?
The table is currently topped by three Chinese universities – Tsinghua University, Peking University and Fudan University – followed by Russia’s Lomonosov Moscow State University, and India’s Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. All five BRICS countries are featured in the top 20, but Chinese universities are dominant throughout, largely thanks to their strong global reputation among both academics and employers.
Delving into the individual indicators assessed reveals some clear disparities between the nations. Many leading South African universities boast high levels of international faculty members – along with Brazil’s Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, which tops the list on this criteria. Indian institutions claim some of the highest proportions of staff qualified to PhD level, though faring much worse when faculty/student ratio is considered – an area in which Russian universities shine.
50 more institutions added for 2016
The addition of 50 more institutions this year will allow for further comparisons both within and across the five nations, all of which have placed higher education at the center of plans for continued development. As the BRICS countries engage in increased collaboration, the ranking could provide a useful tool for identifying suitable partners for academic research and knowledge exchange, as well as contributing to national benchmarking.
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