By RACHEL CHAN

THE National University of Singapore (NUS) has been ranked 10th in Asia by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, which puts it on a par with China's Peking University.

"NUS has maximum scores in five of the nine categories, comprising Asian employer review, Asian peer academic review, research, international faculty and international students," said NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) came in 14th, while the Singapore Management University was not ranked by the London-based company, which came up with a regional ranking for Asian universities for the first time. The list covers 463 universities in 12 countries and territories.

Universities from Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea are in the first nine positions.

The regional ranking is based on slightly different criteria from the QS World University Rankings. For example, the number of exchange students, as well as published research papers per faculty member, is taken into account.

Due to the emphasis on different criteria, NUS is behind the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, which is ranked seventh on the Asian University Rankings list but is 95th on the world list. NUS is 30th on the world list.

Prof Tan said: "While it is expected that as the criteria used for ranking change, the positions of universities would fluctuate slightly, the recent ranking underscores the continuing good progress that NUS is making towards its vision of becoming a global university centred in Asia."

NTU's president, Dr Su Guaning, said: "We shall continue to focus on enhancing global education for our students and building our faculty and facilities befitting a top university."

rachchan@sph.com.sg

WHO'S IN ASIA'S TOP 10 ACCORDING TO QS.COM

For more my paper stories click here.