Only Dhaka University among top 2000 universities globally

Only Dhaka University has secured a place among the top 2,000 universities globally in the Centre for World University Rankings 2020-21–the largest academic ranking of global universities.

But it has failed to make it to the list of top 1,000 universities as it has achieved 1794^th place.

However, 16 Indian universities and two Pakistani universities are among the top 1,000 universities.

The ranking was published on Monday.

Harvard University has topped the list while University of Cambridge and University of Oxford secured fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Educationists have expressed disappointment as no Bangladeshi university could attain a place among the top 1,000 institutions.

Serajul Islam Choudhury, professor emeritus of Dhaka University, said the universities must concentrate on research and quality education.

"There is a very poor budget for research. How will a Bangladeshi university be one of the top universities in the world?"

Educationist Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam said every country should have a mission to develop their higher education and build a skilled future generation. "But unfortunately, we have seen no initiative from the government here."

"It is very shameful for us that we are not in any place worth counting in world education," he said.

Professor Akhtaruzzaman, vice chancellor of Dhaka University, said they are working to build skilled graduates. "We have put emphasis on world standard research."

"We are not concerned about any ranking. But, we are trying to improve overall academic activities of the university," he said.

The Centre for World University Rankings uses seven objectives and robust indicators to rank the world's universities, which are as follows:

1) Quality of Education, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have won major academic distinctions relative to the university's size (25 percent marks)

2) Alumni Employment, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have held top executive positions at the world's largest companies relative to the university's size (25 percent)

3) Quality of Faculty, measured by the number of faculty members who have won major academic distinctions (10 percent)

4) Research Performance:

i) Research Output, measured by the total number of research papers (10 percent)

ii) High-Quality Publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in top-tier journals (10 percent)

iii) Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals (10 percent)

iv) Citations, measured by the number of highly-cited research papers (10 percent)

The Centre for World University Rankings is a leading consulting organisation providing policy advice, strategic insights and consulting services to governments and universities to improve educational and research outcomes.

Since 2012, it has been publishing the only academic ranking of global universities assessing the quality of education, alumni employment, research output, and citations without relying on surveys and university data submissions.

The ranking started out as a project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the aim of rating the top 100 world universities.

It was quickly reported worldwide by universities and media, and many requests were received to expand it. In 2019, the ranking expanded itself to list the top 2,000 out of around 20,000 universities worldwide, making it the largest academic ranking of higher education institutes.

Since 2016, the Centre for World University Rankings has been headquartered in the United Arab Emirates.