News

The University of Botswana is now ranked 410 globally in the subject specialisation of Clinical and Health Sciences, according to the Times Higher Education Global University rankings for 2023. This places UB’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences at 19th in Africa and 14th in Sub-Saharan Africa. The University also achieved notable rankings in Social Sciences and Physical Sciences with the former being ranked in the top 1,000 universities in the world for the third consecutive year while Physical Sciences appears in the global rankings for the first time.

The Times Higher Education rankings which are amongst the world’s most prestigious and widely referenced university rankings, annually rank eleven subject disciplines. Inclusion in the subject rankings is a key performance indicator of the quality of the work being undertaken at UB and plays a significant role in degree recognition globally and are renowned for being credible and comprehensive.

The University Council and Management wish to acknowledge how deeply proud they are of the academic and support staff of the University whose hard work and dedication have produced these outstanding results. The Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris, on behalf of the University Community, enthused that “UB is clearly demonstrating its ability to compete on the global stage with the world’s leading universities.”

The Dean of Health Sciences, Professor Ishmael Kasvosve similarly expressed the delight of the whole University in the following terms. “As we pause to celebrate this remarkable achievement, we are all thrilled by the consistent improvement in the rankings of the University of Botswana on the global stage over the past three years, especially in the Clinical and Health Sciences subject area. We will continue our efforts to invest our collective energy to achieve even greater results.”

Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor Ishmael Masesane, also expressed delight, noting that the ranking’s most weighed indicators were teaching and research reputational survey (34.5%) and citation impact (32.5%). “The ranking of the subject physical sciences is, therefore, a clear indication that staff members in the Faculty of Science publish their research findings in reputable journals which are cited by their peers in the rest of the world,” he said.

Professor Masesane added that the Faculty would benefit from this ranking through global exposure leading to attraction of both undergraduate and graduate students from all over the world. The Faculty set itself a target to be in the top 1000 universities in the next two years.

With an estimated 25,000 universities in the world, and with the Times Higher Education only accepting the best through a process of pre-qualification, UB is in the top tier of the world’s universities with Clinical and Health Sciences being a global player. UB’s performance is especially commendable as it is competing with universities that are well endowed with significant financial resources. The University acknowledges the support provided by the government and people of Botswana over the last 40 years and is proud to demonstrate that they are receiving a return on their investment.