QS World University Rankings 2020 Archives

QS World University Rankings 2020: US, UK Universities Reign Once Again

MIT makes record eight appearance at the top of QS World University Rankings, while British universities also succeeded in retaining the top ten positions; despite Brexit uncertainties. US universities dominated the list, securing five placements in the top ten, followed by the UK that secured four placements in the top ten higher education institutes of the world.

The annual QS ranking released on June 19 (Wednesday), ranks the top 1000 higher education institutes of the world and is regarded as the most prestigious and credible rankings for scholars, students and academia around the globe.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT retained the number one spot yet again, scoring an overall score of 100, with full scores in academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty students and international faculty. Stanford University also succeeded in retaining second position, securing an overall score of 98.4 with full scores in academic reputation, employer reputation and faculty students.

Harvard University clinched third position and secured an overall score of 97.4. The University of Oxford jumped one spot, moving to the fourth position with full scores in academic and employer reputation. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) fell one spot, attaining fifth position in the QS world university rankings for 2020. Other universities in the top ten list included ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (sixth), the University of Cambridge (seventh), UCL (eight), the Imperial College London (ninth) and University of Chicago (10th). Just to add, Stanford, Harvard and Caltech held their ground and position on the ranking for the third successive year.

European Giants

Despite the uncertainties and hazy air about Brexit, the top prestigious higher education institutes in the United Kingdom managed to make their way in the top ten in this years ranking. Four universities secured a spot in the top four, further bolstering both the US and UK’s stature as the leading higher education dens in the world.

Oxford University jumped one spot and was placed fourth this year, moving up past California Institute of Technology. Cambridge, on the other hand, dropped one place to the seventh position in the QS rankings 2020. Besides the US and UK, there was only one other country appearing in the top 10; Switzerland. ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) jumped one place, moving to sixth position in the QS World University Rankings 2020. The institute performed well and secured staggering 98.7 for citations per faculty member and a complete 100 of 100 for international faculty. UCL secured eight spot, while Imperial College London dropped to ninth. Moreover, the UK managed to secure 84 placements in the top 1000 list.

Other prominent European universities in the list included EPFL – Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (18th), The University of Edinburgh (20th), King’s College London (33rd) and Delft University of Technology (50th).

NTU Singapore Rises To 11th In QS World University Rankings

Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) has risen one place to be ranked 11th in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) global league table of top universities. This makes NTU and the National University of Singapore, which is also ranked 11th, jointly the highest ranked universities in the Asia Pacific.

NTU has rapidly risen the QS world rankings, vaulting 62 places since 2009. This year, NTU’s biggest improvements were in research citations per faculty, which moved up ten positions to 36th, and employer reputation, which rose eight places to 35th. NTU’s academic reputation climbed one place to 37th, while its international faculty ranking went up one place to 21st.

NTU has been steadily climbing the various global league tables as it continues to strive for excellence in education, research and innovation, and for enhancing in the impact of its work within Singapore and around the world. This latest achievement in QS is yet another indication that NTU’s investment and efforts are being recognised, and that NTU continues to be highly regarded by academics and employers worldwide.

Building on its record of rapid progress and accomplishments during the past quarter century, NTU’s current phase of growth in global stature began in January 2018 with the appointment of eminent American scientist and academic leader, Professor Subra Suresh, as its fourth president. Prof Suresh and his new leadership team have introduced a number of new initiatives and programmes in education, research and innovation. The new leadership team, along with the academic units, has overseen within the past year and a half the recruitment of top talent to NTU, comprising highly accomplished faculty members from Singapore and around the world. The Presidential Post-doctoral Fellows programme, launched in 2018, has attracted applications from nearly 900 young scholars from top institutions around the world, for only 12 positions this year.

While no single ranking can fully reflect all aspects of a university’s performance, NTU’s strong momentum and upward trajectory have been consistently reflected in several global rankings reported within the past year by independent international organisations that use different criteria and metrics. For example, in the annual rankings published a few months ago by US News and World Report, NTU was placed among the world’s Top 50 universities for the first time. In addition, NTU was chosen by US News and World Report to be among the top five institutions in the world in four major subject areas – materials science (first place), chemistry (second place), computer science (second place) and engineering (fifth place).

In March 2019, the university established the NTU Institute of Science and Technology for Humanity (NISTH) to study the impact of technology on society, and to bring industry, government and academia together to find ways to enhance the use of technology for the betterment of humanity and society.

Striking new collaborations with pioneering global industry leaders such as Volvo Buses, HP Inc., Alibaba, and Roll Royce, the University’s eco-friendly campus has been transformed into the NTU Smart Campus, a living lab for the development and testing of advanced technologies.

Aspiring to become the greenest university campus in the world, the NTU Smart Campus has set an ambitious target to achieve a 35 percent reduction in net energy consumption, net water use, and net waste generation by 2021 compared to the levels of 2011 for the entire campus. Frequently named among the top 15 most beautiful university campuses in the world, it has 57 Green Mark-certified (equivalent to LEED-certified) building projects comprising more than 230 buildings, of which percent were certified Green Mark Platinum.

Just last month, NTU launched a new waste-to-energy research facility that will turn municipal solid waste from the campus into electricity and resources. Working in partnership with various industry partners, the university was a hotbed of sustainable technologies with over 80 ongoing collaborative projects with industry linked to sustainability.

These initiatives were aimed at seeking solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing the world. They may not have any direct influence on rankings, but provide clear demonstrations of how innovation arising from the learning and research activities within NTU’s classrooms and laboratories can be scaled-up and translated into tangible benefits for society.

NTU’s graduates were also highly sought after in the global workplace. About 90 percent of the NTU Class of 2018 graduates found a job within six months of completing their final examinations. This is a reflection of employers’ confidence in the quality of education that NTU graduates receive.

The world’s top 1,000 universities were ranked in this year’s QS World University Rankings. Based on six performance indicators, universities are assessed in key areas of research, teaching, employability and internationalisation. For more information on the rankings visit the following link.

For more information on NTU visit www.ntu.edu.sg