NTU makes top 3, NUS retains place as best varsity in Asia: QS rankings

SINGAPORE — For the first time, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has broken into the top three of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings for Asian universities, scoring 98.4 points this year, just 0.1 point behind second-placed University of Hong Kong. 

The National University of Singapore (NUS) retained its position as the top varsity in Asia for the third year running, while Singapore Management University entered the same rankings in 60th place.

The 2016 edition of the rankings was released on Tuesday (June 14), and NTU came out strong in research, being number one in Asia for citations per paper. 

NTU president, Professor Bertil Andersson, said that the university has managed to “stand out” despite battling “strong competition from the older and more established universities”. 

“This good result is consistent with the research data from others such as Thomson Reuters, and is further proof that NTU’s investments in research have paid off …. We are proud that NTU has attracted not just established scientists who are global leaders in their field, but also the most promising young investigators in the world. They will continue to drive NTU’s success.” 

Two NTU scientists, and the only ones from Asia, have ranked among the world’s most influential scientific minds, under Thomson Reuters’ list of the 19 World’s Hottest Researchers this year. 

They are Professor Zhang Hua, one of the most highly cited materials scientists and chemists in the world, and Professor David Lou, another renowned scientist with breakthroughs in the areas of supercapacitors (power storage devices) and next-generation batteries. 

Best performer NUS maintained its position as the top university in Asia for employer reputation, second in Asia for academic reputation, and third in Asia for citations per paper. 

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, who is NUS’ president, said the recognition is “testament to NUS’ singular focus on excellence and innovation”. 

“Going forward, we will intensify our efforts in nurturing future-ready graduates, fostering a thriving and vibrant entrepreneurship community in Singapore, and growing our research impact and partnerships, to make a strong positive impact in Singapore and beyond,” he said. 

QS ranked Asia’s top 350 universities based on key performance indicators such as academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty-student ratio, citations per paper, papers per faculty, proportion of international faculty and students, and the proportion of inbound and outbound exchange students.