North-West University among top 5% universities in the world
The recently published rankings by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) indicated that the North-West University (NWU) is indeed climbing the ladder of world-ranked universities.
The NWU improved its ranking by close to 100 positions, moving from position 964 to 869, which sees it among the top 4.8% of the more than 18 000 universities evaluated worldwide. Even though the NWU stays at number seven in terms of CWUR's ranking of South African universities, it is the local university that has increased its position the most by far.
The CWUR publishes the only global university ranking that measures the quality of education and training of students as well as the prestige of the faculty members and the quality of their research. Unlike other organisations, CWUR does not base its rankings on data submitted by universities or gathered through surveys.
The CWUR uses seven objective and robust indicators to rank the world's top 1 000 universities:
1) Quality of education, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have won major international awards, prizes and medals relative to the university's size (25%).2) Alumni employment, measured by the number of a university's alumni who have held CEO positions at the world's top companies relative to the university's size (25%).3) Quality of faculty, measured by the number of academics who have won major international awards, prizes and medals (10%).4) Research output, measured by the total number of research papers (10%).5) High-quality publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in top-tier journals (10%).6) Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly influential journals (10%).7) Citations, measured by the number of highly cited research papers (10%).
In 2018, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) awarded the NWU an overall four-star rating (an improvement from three stars received in 2012), and five out of five stars in the teaching, employability, innovation and facilities categories. NWU continues to offer courses that are among the top ranked in the world.
"Keeping all of the above in mind, it is quite evident that we are making enormous strides in reaching our dream to be an internationally recognised university in Africa, distinguished for engaged scholarship, social responsiveness and an ethic of care. Not only have we excelled in innovative learning and teaching and cutting-edge research, but we are also benefiting our society through knowledge," vice-chancellor of the university, Prof Dan Kgwadi, remarked.