The National University of Singapore (NUS) has held on to its spot as second best in Asia, pipped only by the University of Tokyo, in a varsity ranking released this morning.
The Asia University Rankings, published for the second time by London-based magazine Times Higher Education (THE), placed Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 11th on the list, unchanged from last year's edition. This comes a month after Quacquarelli Symonds, an education and career consultancy also based in London, rated NUS as top in Asia for the first time, and NTU as 7th, its highest-ever position.
The latest Times index compares universities based on 13 indicators such as research performance, teaching environment and research citations. Some 60,000 academics were also polled. Todai or University of Tokyo, NUS and the University of Hong Kong are the top three performers in Asia.
NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan said the rank "is an affirmation of NUS' strong international reputation, and a recognition of the university's quality education and world-class research".
NTU president Bertil Andersson said NTU has been consolidating its strengths and is progressing well in education and research. "We expect to break into the top 10 of THE Asian rankings very soon," he added.
Mr Phil Baty, editor of THE Rankings, said NUS and NTU held firm against competition although their rankings did not improve. NUS and NTU were placed 26th and 76th respectively in last year's overall rankings, which came out in October.
