Chandigarh, Nov. 5 -- With an overall score of 42.6, Panjab University (PU) has slipped seven places to rank 276 in the QS Asia University Rankings 2026. Private universities have outperformed public institutions in the northern region (except Delhi-NCR), with four universities from Punjab placed in the 100-200 rank band. Six universities from the region were ranked higher than PU. Chandigarh University secured the 109th position in Asia, followed by Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, which ranked 159th. One possible reason for the higher rankings of private universities is the greater weightage assigned to academic reputation, which carries 30%, the highest among all parameters. The QS Asia University Rankings 2026 were released on Tuesday by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a global higher education consultancy. The rankings feature 1,526 universities from 25 locations across Asia, evaluated on multiple performance indicators. Other universities in the region that ranked above PU include OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat (163), and Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar (187). In the 200-300 rank range, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala (249), and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (258) performed better than PU, both improving from last year's positions. Chitkara University also showed progress, improving its rank from 399 last year to 325 this year. In the overall evaluation, the highest weightage (45%) was given to research and discovery, followed by 20% each for global engagement and employability and outcomes, and 15% for learning experience. The research and discovery category included parameters such as academic reputation, citations per paper, and papers per faculty. The global engagement indicator included five parameters - faculty ratio, research collaborations, student ratio, inbound and outbound international exchanges. The learning experience was assessed based on faculty-student ratio and percentage of staff with PhDs....