In the list released by Mr. Ben Sowter, Head, Intelligence Unit of QS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard and Cambridge Universities figured at the top. Launched with a new set of indicators, the QS World University Rankings by Subject highlights performance in five broad areas - Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences & Management. The ranking identifies world's strongest universities in 30 different subject areas. Mr. Ben Sowter in his presentation explained the parameters and methodology followed and the enormous work involving 90,000 survey responses. He said the rankings are a genuine assistance to students around the world to make informed decisions. Students from India and China use this to choose institutions from across the world. Though India bagged a few rankings in some subjects there was much scope for improvement, Mr. Sowter observed.
The ranking release was part of the MasterClass Summit on Higher Education Innovation and Excellence (SHINE) organised by The Economic Times (ET) Edge, on February 25th 2014 at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore. The summit discussed strategies and solutions for the challenges posed for Indian Universities by global rankings, and held a round table discussion on enhancing the reputation of Indian universities to achieve world class status.
Other speakers included Dr. R.K. Shevgaonkar, Director, IIT Delhi; Mr. Bharat Joshi, British Deputy High Commissioner Chennai; Prof. Arun Nigavekar, Former Chairman, UGC and Founder Director, NAAC; and Mr. Narayanan Ramaswamy, Partner & Head Education, KPMG. Mr. A Jeyaprakash, Vice Chairman, ICAA, proposed the vote of thanks.