THE rankings: Europe looking strong, U.S. losing grip on top spots

The global ranking of National Taiwan University (NTU) has slipped to 167th in the latest assessment by the Times Higher Education magazine, published Wednesday.

Speaking from the launch at the World Academic Summit, minister for education and training in Australia, Simon Birmingham, said that while the country’s higher education system is strong, it faces challenges.

Of the 1126 eligible universities analysed by the THE, Kent features among the top 30% of universities overall.

But despite having only one university in the ranking, this year’s rating is a great leap for Nigeria. THE World University Rankings for 2015-’16 featured universities from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, UAE, and Qatar, whose Qatar University appeared for the first time.

Elsewhere, South Africa continues to lead the way in Africa, with six institutions in the top 800 including the University of Cape Town – the continent’s only top 200 ranked institution (joint 120th).

Just like Nigeria and Uganda, only one Ghanaian university, the University of Ghana is on the list, and it is ranked 601st. There were three Egyptian institutions; Alexandria University (601 – 800), Cairo University (601 – 800) and the Suez Canal University (601 – 800). “This achievement is in part due to expanding the ranking to include 801 universities and 70 countries”. Maintaining its top spot for the fifth year in a row was the California Institute of Technology. Europe has taken remarkable strides forward over the past twelve months, eroding the dominance of American universities, with a record number of institutions in the world top 200 at 105 compared to 87 a year ago.

The University of Kent has been placed among the top tier of universities across the world.

The performance indicators are grouped into five areas: Teaching (the learning environment), Research (volume, income and reputation), Citations (research influence), worldwide outlook (staff, students and research) and Industry income (knowledge transfer).

Make no mistake – many countries aspire to have world class universities competing with the very best in the world, and no one at the top can afford to rest on their laurels.

University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, recently carried out successful open heart surgeries.