UJ welcomes 'upward trajectory' in global university rankings

23 October 2019 - 15:42 By ERNEST MABUZA
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Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, vice-chancellor and principal of UJ.
Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, vice-chancellor and principal of UJ.
Image: Supplied

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has continued its upward trajectory among the world's universities, climbing 31 places in the latest Best Global Universities rankings.

The university said it achieved this feat despite South African universities largely slipping down the global rankings, with 13 local universities ranked.

UJ said the results, released by the US News & World Report on Wednesday, showed that the institution was one of three South African universities that had improved their rankings, along with Stellenbosch University and North-West University.

UJ spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said the institution is now ranked 366, up from 397, while Stellenbosch University is ranked 329, up from 341 last year. North-West University rose from 708 to 645.

Overall, the University of Cape Town (UCT) remained the top university both locally and in Africa, despite falling from 114th position last year to 120th this year.

UCT is followed by the University of the Witwatersrand, which placed 200th overall - down from 197th last year. Other universities which saw a drop were the University of KwaZulu Natal (ranked 338th, down from 336th) and the University of Pretoria (441st, down from 427th).

UJ remained ranked at fifth place in the country.

Esterhuizen said UJ had also fared well this year in subject rankings and was now ranked in six subjects (up from the three last year) – making debuts in engineering (ranked 404th), geosciences (234th) and plant and animal science (379th).

“Significantly, UJ’s physics has climbed 52 places from a global rank of 319 to 267 and has also made strides in the social sciences and public health subjects – climbing 14 places from a global rank of 310 to 296. This demonstrates UJ’s academic robustness and that it is on par with its global counterparts,” he said

Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, vice-chancellor and principal of UJ, said the feat follows UJ being rated in the top 10 in the world by Times Higher Education’s University Impact Rankings for reduced inequalities.

“These achievements demonstrate that the university is well on track in terms of establishing its global reputation as a place of research and academic repute,” he said.

Marwala added that UJ's achievements in the global rankings affirmed the institution’s endeavours to reposition itself for the fourth industrial revolution by preparing staff and students as a skilled workforce for the jobs of the future.


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