LAHORE: Ten public and private sector universities of Pakistan have retained their positions in the QS World University Rankings 2022 with a slight improvement.

Three universities feature in the 355-500 rank band, one in the 651-700, three in the 801-1,000 and as many in 1,001+ rank band.

The National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Islamabad has retained high position among Pakistani universities in the QS World University Ranking figuring in the 355 rank band, the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) stood second and figured in the 373 rank band while the Quaid-i-Azam University grabbed third position and figured in the 454 rank band.

The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) is in the 651-700 rank band while COMSATS University Islamabad, University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore and University of the Punjab are in the 801-1000 rank band. The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, the University of Karachi and the University of Lahore are in the 1000+ rank band.

There are six indicators determining the institutions’ rankings — academic reputation (40pc), employer reputation (10pc), faculty-student ratio (20pc), citations per faculty (20pc), proportion of international students (5pc) and the proportion of international faculty (5pc).

The QS World University Rankings is a publication of university rankings, published annually by British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

In the 2022 edition, 1,673 institutions from 93 locations were covered and 1,300 were finally ranked. Only 10 institutions from Pakistan feature in the list.

The Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) recognises the QS World University Rankings only.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmed claimed that QS World ranking of the university had improved by 16pc for the year 2022. He said the university had been counted among top 61.6pc universities of the world and it was a landmark achievement. He said for the first time, PU’s 13 subjects had been ranked internationally by QS and PU’s subject of Petroleum Engineering was ranked among top 100-150 institutions of the world.

Mr Ahmed said the research publications of the university had increased due to promotion of research culture and the university, for the first time in its history, had allocated a hefty amount of Rs380m for research last year. He appreciated PU Ranking Committee Chairman Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood for making efforts to improve the university’s ranking.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2021