NTU keeps 5th spot in global ranking

NANYANG Technological University (NTU) has kept its No. 5 spot in a ranking of universities under 50 years old, published by the London-based Times Higher Education Magazine.

The results, released early yesterday, compare these universities using 13 indicators, including research, teaching, citations, international outlook and industry income.

This year, Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne moved from second place to pole position, swopping places with South Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology held on to third place and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology retained its fourth-place ranking.

NTU has improved since this ranking was first published in 2012, going from 16th place that year to eighth in 2013, before clinching fifth place last year.

Singapore Management University was not included in the rankings because it is considered a specialised university.

The National University of Singapore - founded in 1905 - does not qualify for this ranking.

Times Higher Education Magazine rankings editor Phil Baty called NTU, which was inaugurated in 1991, "a star".

Referring to NTU's meteoric rise of more than a hundred places in four years in the World University Rankings, which the magazine also publishes, Mr Baty said: "NTU stands as a case study on how to build a world-class university in decades rather than centuries."

He said the universities in this ranking prove that world-class teaching and research are not just the preserve of ancient elite institutions.

"Without the trappings of tradition, the accumulated wealth or the generations of alumni to act as brand ambassadors, these youngsters have been able to make a big impression in a short space of time. They serve as powerful examples for others to follow," said Mr Baty.

University league tables have proliferated in recent years and are gaining in importance, to the extent of influencing funding decisions.

On Wednesday, education consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds released a ranking evaluating universities on 36 subjects.

sandra@sph.com.sg

 


This article was first published on May 1, 2015.
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