Dr. Mukhtar stated that the commission was training university administration on how to submit data to ranking agencies and that the situation would improve in the coming days.
Only 13 Pakistani public and private universities have made the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World subject rankings for 2023.
The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023 cover 54 disciplines, which are divided into five broad subject areas. The rankings are updated annually to assist prospective students in identifying the top universities in a given subject.
The results of major global surveys of employers and academics, as well as research citations, are used to rank universities. There is more information available about this year’s methodology. This year’s rankings include three new subjects that have been evaluated: data science, art history, and marketing.
Six of the ten most improved programmes are hosted by institutions in the Arab Region, including Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Qatar, and Jordan, according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024. In 32 subjects, US institutions are at the top.
Harvard University is among the top-performing institutions, ranking first in 14 subjects — two more than last year’s results. Oxford dominated four of the top 15 subject tables, including Anatomy and Physiology, Anthropology, and English Language and Literature — while Cambridge dominated two subjects, Archaeology and Modern Languages.
The H-index (a metric that measures both science productivity and the impact of an institution’s published work) ranks Australia fourth among the most influential research locations in the world. In Pakistan, the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) was ranked 160, COMSAT University Islamabad was ranked 267, the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) was ranked 279, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad was ranked 348, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) was ranked between 401 and 450, and the University of Punjab was ranked between 501 and 530.
NUST was ranked 148 in the subject of Computer Science and Information Systems, COMSAT University Islamabad was ranked between 251 and 300, LUMS, the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, and Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad were ranked between 351 and 400, UET was ranked between 401 and 450, and the University of Punjab was ranked between 451 and 500.
Aga Khan University Karachi was ranked 391 in Life Sciences and Medicine, while Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad was ranked 346 in Natural Sciences, and COMSAT University Islamabad and NUST were ranked between 451 and 500. In the QS World Ranking, Dow University was ranked 601–650 in medicine.
In the subject of Social Sciences and Management, LUMS was ranked at 322 and National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences was ranked between 451-500, while in Accounting and Finance, LUMS was ranked between 151-200 and COMSATS University was ranked between 301-330.
LUMS was ranked 151-200 in Business & Management Studies, NUST was 251-300, the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) was 301-350, COMSATS University was 401-450, the University of the Punjab was 401-450, Quaid-i-Azam University was 451-500, and Iqra University was 551-580.
LUMS was ranked between 201-250 in Economics and Econometrics, COMSATS University Islamabad between 301-350, Quaid-i-Azam University between 401-450, University of the Punjab between 451-500, IBA between 501-530, and the University of Karachi between 501-530. Only LUMS was ranked between 301-350 in Law & Legal Studies, and Quaid-i-Azam University was ranked between 151-200 in Statistics & Operational Research.
In several subjects, including Arts and Humanities, Marketing, Sociology, Sports-Related Subjects, Anthropology, Communication and Media Studies, Development Studies, Education and Training, Hospitality & Leisure Management, Library & Information Management, Politics, Data Science, History of Art, and Social Policy & Administration, no university from Pakistan made the list.
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad, Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), told the media that the universities appeared in the ranking, which shared data with the QS World Ranking.
He stated that improving rankings was not a major concern, but that public universities must be of high quality. He stated that the government had invested in universities over the last 20 years and that approximately 30 universities in Pakistan should have been ranked.
Dr. Mukhtar stated that the commission was training university administration on how to submit data to ranking agencies and that the situation would improve in the coming days. He also stated that the government would need to increase investment in universities in order to improve educational quality.