20 Bangladeshi institutions in world ranking for innovation

A total of 20 research organisations, public and private universities of Bangladesh have made a place in the top 1,000 institutions in a Spain-based ranking for intellectual property innovation.

The Bangladeshi institutions secured the positions between 595th and 846th, according to the Scimago Institutions Rankings 2020 published recently. Last year, 16 Bangladeshi institutions were ranked between 576th and 815th.

The International Centre for Diarrhoeal and Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) appeared top in the domestic chart and 595th in the world, followed by Mowlana Bhashani Science and Technology University (690th) and Khulna University (699th).

University of Dhaka ranked 4th in the domestic list and 733rd globally.

The other institutions include Bangladesh Agricultural University (754th), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (761st), Rajshahi University (766th), Jahangirnagar University (778th), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (793rd), Chittagong University (799th), Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (804th), and Chittagong University of Science and Technology (806th).

The rest are Brac University and North South University (jointly 815th), Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (822nd), Daffodil International University (832nd), Khulna University of Engineering and Technology and International Islamic University Chittagong (jointly 838th), Military Institute of Science and Technology (844th) and American International University Bangladesh (846th).

Professor AK Azad Chowdhury, former chairman of the University Grants Commission, said the Bangladeshi institutions appeared mediocre in the ranking.

India's institutions did better than Bangladesh's, he said, adding, "We should put more emphasis on research if we want to develop our country."

This year, as many as 7,027 institutions took part in the competition from all over the world.

The Chinese Academy of Science secured the top position in the ranking, followed respectively by Centre National de la Rechereche Scientifique, Ministry of Education of Peoples Republic of China and Harvard University.

Scimago Institutions Rankings is a science evaluation resource that assesses universities and research-focused institutions worldwide.

It uses three criteria to judge institutions' rankings for intellectual property innovation – research (50%), innovations (30%) and the impact of this research and innovations on society (20%).

The organisation consists of members from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), University of Granada, Charles III University of Madrid, University of Alcalá, University of Extremadura and other education institutions in Spain.

It has been publishing the rankings since 2009.