According to Times Higher Education (THE)’s inaugural “Interdisciplinary Science Rankings (ISR) 2025”, Anna University in Chennai(Tamil Nadu, TN) has topped among all Indian universities featured on the list and secured 42nd position globally with an overall score 66.1.
- It is the only Indian university which featured among the Top 50 universities of the list.
- New York (the United States of America, USA)-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has secured 1st spot in the rankings with overall score of 92.4, followed by Stanford University (the USA) and National University of Singapore (NUS) (Singapore) ranked at 2nd and 3rd position respectively.
About ISR 2025:
i.It was created by THE in partnership with Schmidt Science Fellows, to recognise, incentivize, and celebrate interdisciplinary science in higher education across the world.
ii.It is the biggest ever inaugural rankings of THE and has featured a total 749 universities from 92 countries worldwide.
iii.The rankings are based on 11 performance indicators which assessed the performance of the institutions/universities on 3 main areas along with percentage weightage, each representing a stage in the life cycle of research projects: input 19% (funding); process 16% (measure of success, facilities, administrative support and promotion); and output 65%(publications, research quality and reputation).
iv.The methodology used in ISR 2025 is based on 157 million citations; 18 million research publications; survey responses from over 20,000 scholars globally.
Top 5 Universities in ISR 2025:
| Rank | Name of the University | Name of the Country or Region | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | the United States of America (USA) | 92.4 |
| 2 | Stanford University | the USA | 92.2 |
| 3 | National University of Singapore | Singapore | 90.3 |
| 4 | California Institute of Technology | the USA | 90.2 |
| 5 | Duke University | the USA | 89.3 |
Top 5 Indian Universities/Institutes in ISR 2025:
| Rank | Name of the University | Name of the State | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Anna University | Chennai, Tami Nadu (TN) | 66.1 |
| 65 | Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT University) | Vellore, TN | 61.8 |
| 84 | SRM Institute of Science and Technology | Kattankulathur, TN | 58.2 |
| 92 | Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT University) | Bhubaneswar, Odisha | 57.0 |
| 98 | University of Delhi | New Delhi, Delhi | 55.9 |
Representation:
i.As per the rankings, top 100 universities on the list are from all 6 continents, which is led by Asia continent with 47 institutions from 15 countries, followed by Europe (24); North America (17), Africa (5), Oceania (4) and South America (3).
- India and Saudi Arabia are the most represented countries in the top 100 from Asia region, with 6 each, followed by Hong Kong SAR and Japan, with 5 each.
ii.The list is dominated by the USA with 16 universities in the top 100 and 21 universities in the top 200.Also, among the top 10 universities globally, 7 are from the USA.
iii.NUS of Singapore with overall score of 90.3, is the highest-ranked university in the Asia region.
- Also, Nanyang Technology University (Singapore) ranked 9th position in the rankings. Thus, Singapore became the only Asian country to be featured in the top 10 of the list.
iv.Wageningen University & Research (the Netherlands) ranked at 7th position, is the only institute/ university from the European region to be featured in the top 10 of the list.
India’s Performance:
i.India with 65 universities has emerged as the most represented country on the list. However, no Indian institute/ university featured among the top 10 universities in the rankings.
ii.Only 4 Indian universities including both private and public were featured among the top 100 universities globally.
iii.Indian Universities/Institutes in Top 100: Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT University) in Vellore, TN (65th), Sri Ramaswamy Memorial Institute of Science and Technology (SRM Institute of Science and Technology)in Kattankulathur, TN (84th), Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT University) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha (92nd)and Delhi University (98th) and Jalandhar (Punjab)-based Lovely Professional University(LPU) ranked at 99th spot.
iv.Other Indian universities featured on the list: Amity University(Noida, Uttar Pradesh, UP) at 101st, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (Chennai, TN) at 102nd ; Jamia Millia Islamia (Delhi) at 103rd and Delhi-based JawaharLal Nehru University(JNU) ranked at 105th position.
About Times Higher Education (THE):
THE(formerly The Times Higher Education Supplement-The Thes), is a British magazine reporting on news and issues related to higher education.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Paul Howarth
Headquarters- London, the United Kingdom
