THE Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020: hidden gems unearthed

Our rankings have helped to reveal overlooked pockets of potential, says Ellie Bothwell

February 18, 2020
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Browse the full Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020 results


The Times Higher Education Emerging Economies University Rankings were launched in 2014 in part to address a common criticism of international league tables: their focus on wealthy universities in rich countries in the Global North.

It was not a surprise that the institutions of Oxbridge and the Ivy League led, and by and large still lead, the THE World University Rankings, given their long histories of education and research, large endowments and well-established local and international partnerships.

But it was also true that there was an opportunity to shine a light on countries that were often overlooked in the global league table and to provide universities in such nations a chance to benchmark themselves against peers operating in similar economic environments. After all, the development of leading universities was at the heart of many of their national strategies.

Six years on, our picture of the developing world’s higher education prospects is more detailed than ever.

More than 530 universities feature in this year’s table – almost 100 more than last year – hailing from 47 countries, up from 43.

While China is home to seven of the top 10 universities, including all of the top four, there is little correlation between countries’ investment in higher education and their average performance in the ranking (although geography does appear to be a factor), as our graphic on page 37 reveals.

There are also signs that the increasing visibility of universities in emerging countries, as a result of their performance in the rankings, is helping them to cultivate partnerships with leading institutions in other countries.

Daniela Véliz, assistant professor of education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, notes in our analysis (page 8) that the number of foreign universities that have requested a visit to her institution has “grown immensely” since 2014.

“Institutions that you would never have thought want to work with us really want to partner with us in many ways. In our school, we work closely with the University of Michigan and Stanford,” she says.

“In the past, we didn’t think that rankings in Latin America were going to impact so much the way we look abroad and [the way] we see each other. Now it’s not that we work for the rankings, but I think that rankings are relevant not to just Harvard and MIT and the University of Oxford; they have an impact in other types of institutions and countries.”

We look forward to continuing to provide data on these emerging markets and to helping to foster further collaboration.


Countries/regions represented in the THE Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020

Country/region

No of institutions in ranking

Top institution

Rank

China

81

Tsinghua University

1

India

56

Indian Institute of Science

16

Brazil

46

University of São Paulo

14

Russian Federation

39

Lomonosov Moscow State University

5

Taiwan

36

National Taiwan University

8

Turkey

34

Sabancı University

40

Egypt

20

Mansoura University

102

Chile

18

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

=66

Czech Republic

17

Charles University in Prague

=66

Mexico

17

Monterrey Institute of Technology

=115

Thailand

16

Mahidol University

=79

Pakistan

14

Quaid-i-Azam University

85

Malaysia

13

University of Malaya

22

Greece

10

University of Crete

=59

South Africa

10

University of Cape Town

10

Romania

9

Babes¸-Bolyai University

201–250

Colombia

8

Pontifical Javeriana University

=97

Hungary

8

Semmelweis University

=70

Saudi Arabia

7

King Abdulaziz University

13

Indonesia

6

University of Indonesia

103

Tunisia

6

University of Sfax

251–300

Jordan

5

Jordan University of Science and Technology

=63

Morocco

5

Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University

201–250

Argentina

4

National University of San Martín

301–350

Nigeria

4

Covenant University

=91

Slovakia

4

Comenius University in Bratislava

251–300

United Arab Emirates

4

Khalifa University

15

Estonia

3

University of Tartu

=36

Latvia

3

Riga Technical University

251–300

 

 

University of Latvia

251–300

Lithuania

3

Vilnius University

=183

Vietnam

3

Vietnam National University, Hanoi

201–250

Croatia

2

University of Split

=183

Cyprus

2

Cyprus University of Technology

44

Iceland

2

University of Iceland

33

Kazakhstan

2

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

251–300

Peru

2

Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia

=113

Philippines

2

University of the Philippines

=70

Slovenia

2

University of Ljubljana

=162

Sri Lanka

2

University of Peradeniya

=91

Bangladesh

1

University of Dhaka

401–500

Bulgaria

1

Sofia University

351–400

Ghana

1

University of Ghana

251–300

Kenya

1

University of Nairobi

201–250

Kuwait

1

Kuwait University

201–250

Malta

1

University of Malta

=178

Oman

1

Sultan Qaboos University

201–250

Qatar

1

Qatar University

=38

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