AUB
has long been regarded regionally and internationally as an outstanding
university for the contributions that it makes in terms of education,
research, healthcare, and community development. The Times Higher
Education (THE) World University Rankings, one of the most reputable
annual university rankings publications globally, has recognized AUB’s
ongoing commitment to excellence with a leap forward in their rankings
for a second consecutive year.
AUB is now
ranked by THE in the top 351-400 universities worldwide, having moved up
46 places over the course of the past year. Even with increased
competition as more universities are surveyed, AUB is now ranked among
the top 25% of universities worldwide. This improved ranking correlates
with higher scores in the critically important areas of teaching,
research, and citations which constitute 90% of the final score as per
THE evaluation criteria.
When AUB was first
ranked by THE in 2016, it was placed in the 501-600 range, where it
stayed for three years until 2019 whereby AUB jumped up to the 401-500
range. AUB has now moved up again in its rank where it sits in the
351-400 range, out of 1,396 universities surveyed. AUB is 1 of only 6
universities in the Arab world to rank among the top 400. It ranked 4th
among the 62 universities from the Arab world evaluated in the THE World
University Rankings 2020. This is a substantial improvement from its
place in 7th last year.
“What is so impressive
about AUB’s ranking 4th in the Arab world in THE is that it is based on
the talents and achievements of a great mixture of local and
international students, faculty, and researchers,” explains Dr. Lokman
Meho, university librarian. “This is actually a trademark of AUB and
what separates it from the rest of universities in Lebanon and the Arab
world.”
THE rankings are based on a broad set
of indicators, described as pillars, which represent key areas in higher
education excellence. The majority of a university’s ranking score is
based on teaching, research, and citations with each of these pillars
being allocated 30 percent. As an indicator, teaching refers to an
assessment of the learning environment. The research pillar, on the
other hand, refers to an assessment of the volume of research, funding,
and quality of research conducted by a university, whereas the citations
pillar refers to the influence of research conducted. The international
outlook pillar—which relates to the percentage of international staff,
percentage of international students, and international
co-authorship—constitutes 7.5 percent of the final score. The remaining
2.5 percent is allocated to the industry income pillar in which industry
income to academic staff is assessed.
Overall,
this notable improvement in AUB’s ranking is a reflection of the
university’s commitment to constantly do better, achieve more, and
pursue excellence.
Check out the full THE World University Rankings 2020
here.