Mumbai :  After breaking into the top 100 in BRICS Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Ranking last year, Manipal University, the pioneering force in higher education in India, finds a place in the QS Asian University Rankings 2014 released last week. Of the 300 Asian Universities that have been ranked, 17 Indian institutions find a place. While most of them are the IITs, Manipal University, at 181, leads amongst the private Indian universities in the ranking

The annual Asian rankings of QS are a regional variant of the global world university rankings which are being published annually since 2004. The Asian rankings are based on responses from 43,000 Asian and international academics, 8,000 Asian and international employers, and evaluation of 491 institutions.

Reacting to the ranking, Dr. H. Vinod Bhat, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Manipal University said, “It is a significant achievement for Manipal University and other private Indian education institutions to be acclaimed by an esteemed body such as QS Rankings. This will encourage private education in India. It will also motivate institutions like Manipal University to strive harder and secure a better position among international institutions

Some of the parameters for the ranking are: academic reputation of university among employers, student/ faculty ratio, research by faculty, cita­tions per paper.  QS released the rankings in association with the Indian Centre for Assessment & Accreditation (ICAA) in New Delhi.

Manipal University encourages research by faculty members and provides incentives for research output in the form of publications and patents and also encourages teaching faculty to compete for research funding and rewards success in the form of academic allowances and research incentives. The University is home to nearly 28,000 students from 57 countries pursuing undergraduate and post graduate programs in diverse subjects. The University has a strong alumni network of over 94,000 members