Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has jumped three rungs to the No. 2 spot in Times Higher Education's latest ranking of the world's best young universities.

NTU overtook Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and South Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, which were placed ahead of it last year. Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne retained the top spot.

The Top 150 under-50 ranking released this morning compares universities under 50 years of age, based on research, teaching, citations, international outlook and industry income, giving lower weightage to academic reputation to reflect the special features of younger universities.

NTU president Bertil Andersson, said: "NTU has been making good progress and is recognised internationally for excellence in teaching, research and innovation.

"This latest league table reflects the talent and dedication of our faculty, the quality of our students, the growing global impact of our research and the strong support of our alumni and industry partners."

He added that the ranking also shows that Asia is the place to be, with Asian universities capturing four out of the top six places.

"As they continue to ascend, competition... will further intensify as the region's universities strive to become leading global education and research institutions," he said.

Mr Phil Baty, editor of the Times ranking, said the latest league table confirms NTU's status as one of the "most exciting and closely watched" universities in the world.

He noted that NTU was named the fastest-rising university last year, based on Times Higher Education's World University Rankings, and said this latest league table confirms its status among the world elite. NTU has jumped 114 places in four years in the Times worldwide ranking.

Mr Baty said: "To have achieved so much in just 25 years of existence, while other universities have required centuries of development, is extraordinary."

Times Higher Education's ranking is the latest in a string of accolades for NTU, set up in 1991.

Last November, in a similar ranking by education specialist Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), NTU trumped a Hong Kong rival to secure top spot for the second year running. Times Higher Education and QS use different ranking methodologies, but both aim to identify young universities tipped to be the rising stars of higher education.

Singapore Management University is not included in the rankings because it is considered a specialised university, while the National University of Singapore - founded in 1906 - does not qualify for this ranking.