Top African Universities
AN international survey has ranked Makerere University as the 21st best university in Africa and the 3,852nd in the world.
By John Banalya
AN international survey has ranked Makerere University as the 21st best university in Africa and the 3,852nd in the world. The University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania was ranked the 13th in Africa and the 2,433rd in the ranking of 9,500 universities in the world. Moi University in Kenya holds the 61st position in Africa while Kenyatta University stands at 71st position. Ibadan University in Nigeria is at 62nd.
Makerere used to be the top university in Africa, but the turmoil of the 1970s sent many academics to exile and the resulting underfunding against increased intake have taken a toll on its faculties and standards.
In the top 1,000 world universities, USA and Canada have 497(49.7%), Europe 356 (35.6%), Asia 82 (8.2%), Oceania (Australia and South Pacific) 38 (3.8%) and Africa six (0.6%).
The survey was conducted by the Internet Lab CINDOC—CSIS based in Madrid, Spain. The findings are published on the www.webometrics.info/top3000.asp.htm, website.
The data, collected in November, 2005, covered well-known websites that include the Global Sources’ University worldwide, www.univ.cc and Rasin track University index. For the Canadian and American universities, data was also got from Canada Universities research website, www.uwaterloo.ca/canu, and the Texas www.utexas.edu/ world/univ/sate, website. The UK-based website; www.sat.w/v.ac.uklukinfo was also used.
The data, was collected from the main search engines of the universities using adhoc scripts or APTs provided by commercial engines. The rankings were based on the size of the web, the visibility of the web and content in the rich files.
The main base in getting the data was through the use of the Web Impact Factor(WIF) where weights were added for the rich files on the web.
The rich files (PDF, doc, pot,etc) are weighted as they are more related to the research and published works of the universities. Other considerations included research output from the universities, teacher/student ratio, proportion of international staff and that of international students.
South Africa leads the African pack with 15 of the 20 leading universities in Africa. None of the African universities is among the best 300 in the world.
The leading university in Africa is the University of Cape Town in South Africa, which holds the 324th position in the world rankings. It is followed by Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria, Rhodes University and University of Witwatersrand.
They are followed by the University of Western Cape, University of South Africa and the University of Kwazulu-Natal, also in South Africa. These are followed by the American University of Cairo in Egypt and University of the Free State in South Africa.
The world’s best nation is the USA with the leading 20 universities.
The best-ranked university is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by Stanford University in California and Harvard University.
The best university in Europe is the University of Cambridge (UK), but is ranked 21st in the world. It is followed by University of Oxford, which holds the 28th position worldwide.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich in Switzerland is considered third in Europe with the 41st position worldwide.
Canada has the University of Toronto and British Columbia ranked among the best 100 in the world.
In Asia, Tokyo University (Japan), National University of Singapore (Singapore), Keo University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel )are among the best ranked.
The best in Australia include Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and Monash University.
Ends
AN international survey has ranked Makerere University as the 21st best university in Africa and the 3,852nd in the world. The University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania was ranked the 13th in Africa and the 2,433rd in the ranking of 9,500 universities in the world. Moi University in Kenya holds the 61st position in Africa while Kenyatta University stands at 71st position. Ibadan University in Nigeria is at 62nd.
Makerere used to be the top university in Africa, but the turmoil of the 1970s sent many academics to exile and the resulting underfunding against increased intake have taken a toll on its faculties and standards.
In the top 1,000 world universities, USA and Canada have 497(49.7%), Europe 356 (35.6%), Asia 82 (8.2%), Oceania (Australia and South Pacific) 38 (3.8%) and Africa six (0.6%).
The survey was conducted by the Internet Lab CINDOC—CSIS based in Madrid, Spain. The findings are published on the www.webometrics.info/top3000.asp.htm, website.
The data, collected in November, 2005, covered well-known websites that include the Global Sources’ University worldwide, www.univ.cc and Rasin track University index. For the Canadian and American universities, data was also got from Canada Universities research website, www.uwaterloo.ca/canu, and the Texas www.utexas.edu/ world/univ/sate, website. The UK-based website; www.sat.w/v.ac.uklukinfo was also used.
The data, was collected from the main search engines of the universities using adhoc scripts or APTs provided by commercial engines. The rankings were based on the size of the web, the visibility of the web and content in the rich files.
The main base in getting the data was through the use of the Web Impact Factor(WIF) where weights were added for the rich files on the web.
The rich files (PDF, doc, pot,etc) are weighted as they are more related to the research and published works of the universities. Other considerations included research output from the universities, teacher/student ratio, proportion of international staff and that of international students.
South Africa leads the African pack with 15 of the 20 leading universities in Africa. None of the African universities is among the best 300 in the world.
The leading university in Africa is the University of Cape Town in South Africa, which holds the 324th position in the world rankings. It is followed by Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria, Rhodes University and University of Witwatersrand.
They are followed by the University of Western Cape, University of South Africa and the University of Kwazulu-Natal, also in South Africa. These are followed by the American University of Cairo in Egypt and University of the Free State in South Africa.
The world’s best nation is the USA with the leading 20 universities.
The best-ranked university is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by Stanford University in California and Harvard University.
The best university in Europe is the University of Cambridge (UK), but is ranked 21st in the world. It is followed by University of Oxford, which holds the 28th position worldwide.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich in Switzerland is considered third in Europe with the 41st position worldwide.
Canada has the University of Toronto and British Columbia ranked among the best 100 in the world.
In Asia, Tokyo University (Japan), National University of Singapore (Singapore), Keo University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel )are among the best ranked.
The best in Australia include Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and Monash University.
Ends