New QS University Rankings Point to Rise of Asia's Young Universities
LONDON, May 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Results on http://www.topuniversities.com
The effects of Asia's higher education revolution are showcased in a new ranking of the world's leading universities under the age of 50. Asia claims a remarkable six of the top ten universities in the QS Top 50 Under 50 ranking, with The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) beating UK's Warwick University to the top spots.
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QS Top 50 Under 50
2011 World
University
Under 50 Rankings Establishment
Institution Country Year
The Chinese
University of
Hong Kong
1 37 (CUHK) HK 1963
The Hong Kong
University of
Science and
Technology
2 40 (HKUST) HK 1991
The University
3 50 of Warwick GB 1964
Nanyang
Technological
University
4 58 (NTU) SG 1991
KAIST - Korea
Advanced
Institute of
Science and
5 90 Technology KR 1971
University of
6 96 York GB 1963
Pohang
University of
Science and
Technology
7 98 (POSTECH) KR 1986
Maastricht
8 109 University NL 1976
City
University of
9 110 Hong Kong HK 1984
University of
California,
10 148 Irvine (UCI) US 1965
(c) QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2012 http://www.topuniversities.com
Four of the top seven are Asian scientific institutions, with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University outranking Western universities such as University of York and University of California, Irvine despite having been in existence for just 21 years.
"New science-based institutions have been established to drive innovation and growth in booming economies such as Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore", says Ben Sowter, QS head of research: "Their superior performance compared to Western universities established within the same time frame is testament to Asia's dynamism".
QS Top 50 Under 50 has been published alongside the annual QS University Rankings: Asia to demonstrate the dramatic effects of Asian expenditure on international higher education.
QS University Rankings: Asia
2012 2011 Institution Country
The Hong Kong University of Science and
1 1 Technology (HKUST) HK
2 3 National University of Singapore SG
3 2 University of Hong Kong HK
4 6 Seoul National University KR
5 5 The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) HK
6 13 Peking University CN
KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science
7 11 and Technology KR
8 4 The University of Tokyo JP
Pohang University of Science and Technology
9 12 (POSTECH) KR
10 7 Kyoto University JP
©QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2009-2012 http://www.topuniversities.com
This year's QS ranking for Asia features its youngest ever top ten, with an average age of just 77.5. Four of the top 10 universities are less than 50 years old, with number one institution HKUST founded just 21 years ago.
The prominence of younger Asian institutions has been put down to a boom in scientific research. China doubled its main scientific research budget between 2009 and 2011, while universities in Singapore and Korea have benefited from multi-billion dollar investment programs.
Nine of the top ten Chinese universities improved their performance in this year's QS University Rankings: Asia, with Peking University rising to a record high of sixth. Young Korean institutions KAIST and POSTECH have now moved firmly into the ranking's top tier, having produced more research papers per faculty member than any other university in the top ten.
"These young universities will continue to grow in prominence as Asian governments invest in the hope of driving technological innovation", says Sowter. "These rankings suggest the West's advantage over Asia may be shrinking more quickly than anticipated".
The full 300 of the QS University Rankings: Asia and the QS Top 50 Under 50 is available on http://www.topuniversities.com