Next week will see the publication of this year’s QS University Rankings: BRICS – an annual index tracking the performance of top universities in the five BRICS countries.
First published in 2013, the ranking was developed to facilitate direct comparison of universities in these five fast-developing countries, all of which have set investment in tertiary education and research as high national priorities.
The first two editions of the ranking have reflected the particularly high levels of investment seen in China, with Tsinghua University and Peking University – both members of the elite C9 League – taking the top two spots in both years. Russia’s Lomonosov Moscow State University has also so far remained stable in third position, while the 2014 release saw Brazil’s leading representative – the Universidade de São Paulo – climb one place to seventh.
South Africa’s University of Cape Town also gained ground last year, rising from 11th to joint 9th. Meanwhile India’s leader, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), remained stable at 13th.
Tracking national trends in higher education
As well as highlighting leading institutions in each nation, the ranking reflects wider national trends. For instance, Russia has emerged as the leader on academic staff numbers relative to student enrolments, while the Indian Institutes of Technology claim the highest proportions of highly qualified faculty members. China and India lead on research production rates relative to faculty size, while South Africa’s leading institutions stand out in terms of research impact.
Those viewing the ranking online can explore these trends for themselves, using the interactive table to compare universities’ performance on eight individual indicators relating to global reputation, internationalization, academic staff levels, and research output and impact.
The BRICS ranking joins QS’s suite of regional rankings, which now includes dedicated rankings of universities in Asia, Latin America, the Arab Region and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Each of these applies a slightly differentiated methodology, designed to reflect challenges and priorities for universities within each region. These initiatives collectively aim to celebrate and evaluate higher education excellence beyond the countries which traditionally dominate the overall QS World University Rankings®.
The forthcoming edition of the QS University Rankings: BRICS will be published on 8 July 2015. Follow us on Twitter to be the first to get the results.
