The National University of Singapore (NUS) has yet again emerged as Asia’s best performing university, in the latest university ranking by the London-based education consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released today.
It has been the region’s top performing university since QS introduced rankings by subjects in 2011.
This time, it was ranked as the region’s best across 25 subjects – four more than last year. This includes three of the six new subjects the QS ranking introduced this year – anthropology, nursing, and social policy and administration.
NUS deputy president of academic affairs and provost Tan Eng Chye said the improvement is “a strong recognition of NUS’ strengths and expertise as a comprehensive university in a diverse range of subject areas”.
“As Singapore builds up world-class research capabilities in areas that are critical to the nation and the economy, NUS is well poised to contribute its leading expertise to address national challenges and improve lives of Singaporeans,” he added.
NUS came in third in the world for civil and structural engineering and fifth for chemical engineering. NUS had 11 other subjects, including electrical and electronic engineering and chemistry, that made the global top 10.
Nanyang Technological Uni- versity (NTU) was first in Asia for materials science.
NTU president Bertil Andersson said the university started out primarily as an engineering university but has since excelled in other areas, such as science and education.
NTU had two subjects ranked in the world’s top 10, down from three last year. It was sixth for materials science and eighth for electrical and electronic engineering.
Professor Andersson said: “We will continue to push hard to scale greater heights of excellence and innovation in education and research, and to be relevant to the needs of students and the industry.”
The ranking evaluates universities on 42 subjects. Results are based on research citations and survey responses from more than 121,000 academics and employers around the world.
On the global front, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) continue to dominate the subject rankings. Both led in 12 subjects.
The head of the QS Intelligence Unit, Mr Ben Sowter, said: “Singapore has established itself as one of the world’s leading education and research hubs and continues to shine in our global analysis.”
Top in Asia for…
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
1. Accounting and Finance
2. Anthropology
3. Architecture/Built Environment
4. Business and Management
5. Chemistry
6. Communication and Media
7. Computer Science and Information Systems
8. Economics and Econometrics
9. Engineering: Chemical
10. Engineering: Civil and Structural
11. Engineering: Electrical and Electronic
12. Engineering: Mechanical, Aeronautical, Manufacturing
13. English and Literature
14. Environmental Sciences
15. Geography
16. Law
17. Mathematics
18. Medicine
19. Nursing
20. Pharmacy and Pharmacology
21. Politics and International Studies
22. Psychology
23. Social Policy and Administration
24. Sociology
25. Statistics and Operational Research
NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
1. Materials Science
This article was first published on March 22, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.