“These rankings represent a significant step forward on how we assess universities’ performance and more notably, their influence and contribution to a better world for all. We are extremely proud of our university, staff and students who work tirelessly to elevate the university stature in the country, the continent and world. This achievement belongs to all of us. We have academics who continue to help with the creation of African-based solutions to global problems. Our rise through the ranks would not be possible without our academics who are recognised as world leaders and pioneers of science as well as agents of change in their respective fields. This achievement would also not be possible without our support and administrative staff, who work diligently in the background. We have witnessed their fearless pursuit of new knowledge and innovation, and we are extremely proud of the direction TUT is heading 17 years on,” says Prof Lourens van Staden, Vice-Chancellor and Principal.

Times Higher Education rankings focus on five key areas: Teaching, Research, Citations, International Outlook and Industry Income with 13 performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons. According to Dr Dhaya Naidoo, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Technology & Chief Information Officer (CIO), this year’s ranking analysed more than 108 million citations across over 14.4 million research publications and included in the survey responses from almost 22 000 scholars globally. 2100 institutions were assessed to compile the final list of 1662 universities from 99 countries and territories.

“Our University has progressively been doing well in global rankings and it is beyond doubt that rankings have become a significant part of the tertiary education landscape, both locally and globally. Rankings help maintain and build institutional position and reputation; students, especially postgraduates, use rankings to ‘shortlist’ university choice; and key stakeholders use rankings to influence their decisions about accreditation, funding, sponsorship and employee recruitment,” says Dr Naidoo.

In addition, Dr Naidoo said the entire university community ought to celebrate the remarkable milestone. “Indeed, this achievement is the result of efforts from our scholars and students, pro-active research stewardship and world-class researchers. We should work even  harder to accelerate in these rankings and display to the world the noteworthy research, teaching and learning, and significant developments taking place at TUT”.