United Arab Emirates University, UAEU, has been ranked as the nation's best university and now stands among the top 1.5 percent of universities in the world, according to a prestigious global overview of higher education institutions.

The QS World University Rankings 2018, published today, sees the UAEU in the top 400, having risen 23 places since the 2017 edition of the widely-respected assessment, with the elevation of its academic and employer reputation and improvements in its student-to-faculty ratio being highlighted as key factors in its success.

The Al Ain-based institution, established in 1976 and currently home to almost 14,000 students and more than 800 faculty, secured a place among the top universities in the 2018 edition of the rankings, being placed 390th. Its new position among the 1.5 percent best universities globally is based on there being approximately 26,000 universities around the world.

Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, the Chancellor of the UAEU, welcomed the institution's new ranking as "very good news", saying, "The fact that United Arab Emirates University is now one of the top 1.5 percent universities in the world, and the top university in the UAE, is truly something to be celebrated. This success is due to a team effort, and the hard work and dedication of UAEU's students, faculty, researchers and staff, and the overarching reputation and positive perception of our university."

The QS World University Rankings, produced by global education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, are regarded as the most widely-read study of their kind and the world's most popular source of comparative data about universities, with 14 editions now having been compiled.
Top indicators

The 2018 rankings considered more than 4,000 of the world's best universities on six key indicators, and charted their overall score against national and global averages.

The results showed that UAEU ranked strongest in the 'International Faculty' indicator, a measure for determining the attractiveness of a university to academic staff, where it was placed 12th globally.

Since 2014, UAEU has risen by nine percent in the study's overall rankings, while its performance against the global average has leapt by 32 percent during the same period, and it now outperforms the national average by 30.5 percent. It also now stands as the 10th best university in the entire Middle East.

Methodology

To compile the rankings, QS Quacquarelli Symonds analyzed 115,000 survey responses from employers and academics and more than 75 million citations from over 12 million research papers. More than 4,000 universities were considered for inclusion.

Source: Khaleej Times