TEHRAN — According to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019, 29 Iranian universities are among more than 1,250 top universities worldwide.

Babol Noshirvani University of Technology ranked between 351 and 400, Amirkabir University of Technology and University of Kashan both ranked between 501 and 600, Iran University of Science and Technology, Isfahan University of Technology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Sharif University and Technology, Shiraz University of Technology, University of Tabriz, University of Tehran and Tehran University of Medical Sciences all ranked between 601 and 800 came in first three places among the Iranian universities. 

Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, University of Guilan, Iran University of Medical Sciences, University of Isfahan, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, University of Mazandaran, Shahid Beheshti University, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, and Shiraz University are collectively ranked between 801 and 1,000.

Moreover, Alzahra University, University of Birjand, Kharazmi University, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Shahrood University of Technology, Urmia University, Yazd University and University of Zanjan are ranked above 1,001 in the list. 

Times Higher Education website states that the ranking is the only global university performance table to judge research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. 

It uses 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

This year’s list of the best universities in the world is led by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge for the second consecutive year.

Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, Imperial Collage London and University of Chicago are among the world top 10 university respectively.  

Among Islamic countries Iran with 29 universities is the representative with the highest number of higher education institutes followed by Turkey and Egypt with 23 and 19 universities respectively. 

Malaysia with 11 universities, Pakistan with 9 universities, Saudi Arabia and Algeria each with 6 universities, Indonesia with 5 universities, Morocco, Jordan and the UEA each with 4 universities, Kazakhstan with 2 universities and Iraq, Oman, Nepal, Tanzania, Jamaica, Qatar and Kuwait each with 1 university are the Islamic countries in the ranking. 

In general only 11 universities in Islamic countries ranked below 500.  

Additionally, China has stepped up its ascent of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, with the country now home to the top institution in Asia for the first time under the current methodology. Tsinghua University has overtaken the National University of Singapore to become the best university in Asia in the The World University Rankings 2019 after rising eight places to 22nd, representing the greatest rise in the top 30.

There is also good news for France, which has a top 50 university for the first time since 2011.

Overall, 86 countries are represented, including Iraq, Jamaica, Nepal, Tanzania and Kazakhstan for the first time.

MQ/MG