Damascus, Damascus University has ranked among the Times Higher Education and Research rankings in its world version, or what is known as the Times Higher Education World Rankings, to be the first Syrian university to obtain a rank in this ranking. Dr. Marwan Al-Ra'i, Director of the University's Classification Office, stated in a statement to SANA Wednesday that Damascus University ranked 1501+ out of 2092 universities that were actually included in this ranking. Al-Rai pointed out that Damascus University is the only Syrian university that has met the research threshold condition and exceeded the specialization condition to be actually included in the ranking. He said that the Times Higher Education World University Rankings is considered the most important educational and research ranking in the world, and the university's achievement of a rank in its international version is an added value to it, given that it is included among the best 2092 universities in the world. þAl-Rai added that the Ranking i n its last version is based on 18 different and comprehensive main criteria such as the quality of research, the quality of education, academic reputation, the success rate for PhD and undergraduate students. Source: Syrian Arab News Agency