Share

First time entry, UJ breaks into top 500 world university rankings

accreditation
UJ logo.
UJ logo.

Another South African university has made it to the top 500 in the Academic Ranking for World Universities.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) joined Stellenbosch University and University of KwaZulu-Natal in the 401-500 band positions from last year’s rankings.

Wits University retained its position from last year, still in the 201-300 band.

However, the University of Cape Town slipped from its last year’s position in the 201-300 to the 301-400 band this year.

The rankings were released yesterday by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, an independent organisation dedicated to research on higher education intelligence and consultation.

The Academic Ranking for World Universities has been presenting the world top 500 institutions annually since 2003. It bases the rankings on a set of objective indicators and third-party data.

“We adopt six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, the number of highly cited researchers, the number of articles published in journals of nature and science, the number of articles indexed in science citation index, and per capita performance,” said a statement on the ranking website.

About 1300 universities are ranked every year.

For the first time, universities ranked between 501 and 800 were published because they demonstrated the potential of breaking into the top 500 list in the near future.

Other Suth African universities listed included, in the 501-800 bands that was published for the first time this year, the University of Pretoria (501-600), University of North West (601-700) and the University of South Africa (701-800).

UJ ‘in pursuit of excellence’

UJ spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said the university global stature and academic robustness have been given a significant boost.

“This is the most prestigious global ranking system in the world which uses only externally accessed, objective measures in its assessment of university performance. It is a ranking system that is heavily focused on research quality and impact.

“Not only was this UJ’s first appearance in this ranking system, but the university finds itself ranked highly in relation to its peer South African universities, having been placed fourth in South Africa between Stellenbosch University in third place and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in fifth place, all in the 401-500 band.”

UJ principal and vice-chancellor Professor Ihron Rensburg said it was a tremendous accomplishment and recognition for UJ.

“This has been accomplished on our own terms of substantial access and success for the poorest in our nation, significant transformation of our academic community, alongside the active pursuit of global teaching and research excellence.”


We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
21% - 103 votes
No
79% - 399 votes
Vote