DOHA: Qatar University (QU) rose 90 places to enter the ranks of best 350 international universities according to Times Higher Education’s (THE) World University Rankings 2021.
The rankings include 1,527 universities across 93 countries and regions, standing as the largest and most diverse university rankings ever to date. The table is based on 13 calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
Prestigious moment
QU President Dr Hassan Al Derham said: “This is a prestigious moment for QU to be ranked among top 350 universities globally. This jump signifies the commitment of QU towards its five-year strategy (2018-2022) which maps out the routes to achieving continuing performance excellence.”
He added: “The participation in worldwide rankings brings positive competition; it raises participants’ international standing and improves the job market for graduates of those universities. For QU, international ranking is a result and not a goal. Our main goal is to prepare national leaders and develop the national human capital towards building a knowledge-based economy.”
Internationally connected
THE Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty said: “QU University has always been one of the most internationally connected universities in the world – leading the world for our ‘international outlook’ category in the World University Rankings, with strong international connections and a diverse campus community.”
Baty added: “It is great to see the university rise significantly up the rankings for 2021. This is driven by an excellent score for research impact – a sign of how influential the university’s research is among scholars globally, based on our analysis of more than 80 million citations across more than 13 million research publications.”
Relevance and impact
Roland Hancock, Partner, PwC Middle East, said:, “Qatar continues to invest in its education system, its research strength and the calibre of its higher education institutions, capabilities and partnerships, reflected in QU being recognised for its ongoing contribution in education and research and its increasing relevance and impact.”
He said: ‘This strong achievement has been made during a period when the rules of higher education are being rewritten by Covid-19 and the resultant changes to delivery and collaboration models. Travel has been restricted and this might mean a potential for increased numbers of domestic students (albeit with a possible reduction of international enrolments).”