Several Indian Institutes of Technology, including IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee, have decided not to participate in the World University Rankings, an annual publication of university rankings by the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine, for 2020.
In a joint statement, the premier institutes said they may reconsider their decision next year if THE “is able to convince them about the parameters and transparency in their ranking process”.
The annual exercise often places IITs far below American and European institutions.
Some of the major parameters for the ranking are having Nobel Laureates among faculty and having a strong international faculty and student presence on the campus.
This year, the annual National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) exercise wasn’t carried out due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The NIRF’s assessment of institutions of higher learning is normally released in the first week of April.
