Israeli universities receive high marks in global rankings

Israeli universities placed high in the prestigious QS World University Rankings for 2015-2016, published on Tuesday,

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-Ilan University and Tel Aviv University all rose in the rankings from the previous year's report. However, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology saw their rankings drop.

The QS ranking system is based on six performance indicators that "assess universities in four areas: research, teaching, employability and internationalization." Each indicator is assigned a certain weight: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), student-to-faculty ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), international faculty ratio (5%), and international student ratio (5%).

Ben-Gurion University stood out among Israeli universities, leaping 33 places from the previous report to come in at 259th place. Tel Aviv University climbed eight places to be ranked 203rd. Bar-Ilan University was ranked among the 601 to 650 top universities (up from the previous report, when it was in the 651 to 700 group). The University of Haifa did not make the cut of top 700 universities, but is mentioned alongside other universities in the "701 plus" group.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem dropped 10 places to come in at 148th, and the Technion dropped eight places to 198th.

American universities dominate the top 20 places. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology topped the list, while Harvard University, ranked fourth last year, climbed to second place this year. It was followed by the University of Cambridge in the U.K. in third place, Stanford University in fourth place (up three places from last year), and the California Institute of Technology in fifth place (up three places from last year).

The Weizmann Institute of Science was not ranked alongside other universities, but placed high in a separate ranking for natural science faculties, coming in at no. 85. The Weizmann Institute, the Hebrew University, the Technion and Tel Aviv University were also ranked among the top 100 universities in the mathematics category.

Tel Aviv University issued a statement Tuesday, saying the report reaffirmed its faculty's prolific body of research.

"In the overall ranking, Tel Aviv was placed 203rd, but in the citations per faculty category it ranked 20th in the world and first among Israeli universities, as per the latest QS World University Rankings report. That category is one of the most important indicators for measuring quality of research," the statement said.

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