Singapore's universities takes Asia's No.1 spot and 24th in world ranking

National University of Singapore (NUS) takes Asia’s number one spot and is 24th in the world in the 13th edition of World University Rankings published by Times Higher education.

NUS climbed up two notches from last year's edition.

Nanyang Technological University (54th) has also been ranked in the top 100 list. It was previously ranked 55th.

The calculation of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings has been subject to an independent audit by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Phil Baty, the editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, said:

“The National University of Singapore (NUS) is Asia’s top university for the second year in a row, reaching 24th place – its highest ever rank.

The city-state’s flagship is joined by the 35-year-old Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 54th place, also its top ever position; the university has risen 120 places since 2011.

Both institutions are among the very best in the world at drawing in top international talent. NUS is also rewarded for its strong research environment, while NTU has strong research influence and is successful at attracting large sums of money from industry.

“Singapore has introduced powerful policy drives, backed with serious funding, to produce world-class universities. Its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (Create), launched in 2006, enables researchers from some of the world’s top universities to work together to perform cutting-edge research, while its $603.3 million Research Centres of Excellence initiative, launched in 2007, has helped spur research excellence at its universities. The city-state now spends 2.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, up from 1.8 in 2000 – more than China and the UK.

“There is no doubt that more of Asia’s leading universities will soar to join the world elite in the years to come.”

The newly-expanded THE World University Rankings are great news for southeast Asia. In total 21 universities from the region make this year’s table, up from 15 last year, and the Philippines joins the list for the first time. Indonesia has also doubled its representation to two and Malaysia, which invests a huge amount in higher education and has marketed itself as a knowledge economy and innovation hub, has two new entries, taking its total to seven.

Singapore’s impressive performance is part of a wider trend of Asia’s continuing ascent in this year’s ranking. China’s Peking and Tsinghua universities both make the top 40, while five universities in Hong Kong make the top 200.