Tsinghua University has been ranked first in Asia for three consecutive years! Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University is the dark horse this year | Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2021

Jin Lei Bowen from Aofei Temple
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The 2021 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings are freshly released.

In this annual Asian university "qualifying competition", which universities are eye-catching?

Without further ado, let me highlight the key points:

• Tsinghua University still tops the list, and it is the third year in a row; next door Peking University ranks second, the same as last year.

• Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Became the strongest dark horse, surpassing the old famous universities and ranked 35th in the mainland.

• A total of 15 universities in the mainland ranked in the top 50, setting a new record.

• In addition, Beijing has 19 universities on the list, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Beijing Normal University in the Top 50. Guangdong Province and Shanghai followed closely behind, with 9 and 8 universities on the list respectively.

Next, let’s take a look at the detailed results of this year’s (ninth) “qualifying round”.

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University becomes a dark horse, while Central South University and South China University of Technology advance into the top 50

First, let’s look at the Times ranking of mainland universities.

Overall, there are 551 Asian universities participating in the "qualifying round" this time .

Among them, 91 are universities in mainland China , 10 more than last year's 81.

Among the top 50 universities in the "Asia List" , 15 are from mainland China, which also sets a new record.

Expanding to the Top 100 , there are 31 mainland universities shortlisted, and 13 of them have made progress or maintained a good ranking compared with last year.

Looking more specifically, Tsinghua University still ranks first in this ranking .

It is worth mentioning that this is the third year that Tsinghua University has topped the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings.

Peking University This year, it ranks second in the overall ranking, which is consistent with last year.

In addition, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, which was not on the list last year, was ranked 35th among mainland universities this year, surpassing a number of old and famous universities to become the biggest dark horse on the list.

Central South University and South China University of Technology have entered the top 50 Asian universities, setting a new record for the number of mainland universities entering the top 50 of the ranking, reaching 15.

Overall, the rankings of 80% of universities in mainland China have risen or remained the same.

19 universities in Beijing are on the list, followed by Guangdong and Shanghai

From a geographical perspective, 19 of the mainland universities on the list are located in Beijing, of which Tsinghua University, Peking University and Beijing Normal University are among the top 50 in Asia.

Guangdong Province has nine universities on the list, and three of them are also among the top 50 in Asia: Southern University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University and South China University of Technology.

There are 8 universities in Shanghai on the list, and those that are among the top 50 in Asia are Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Tongji University.

In addition, two universities in Hubei Province have entered the top 50 in Asia, namely Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Wuhan University.

Japan has the most people on the list in Asia, and Singapore ranks highly

In this ranking, Japan is still the country with the most universities in Asia : 116 in total.

△ Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings

This year, Kyoto University replaced the University of Science and Technology of China and ranked 10th, making Japan occupy two seats in the TOP10, achieving the best result since 2015.

Among the 63 Indian universities on the list, 14 are participating in the ranking for the first time , the largest number in Asia .

Although Singapore has a small number of universities on the list, they are ranked relatively high , especially the National University of Singapore, which ranks third and even ranks first in the QS Asian University 2021.

Most of the higher education institutions outside Southeast Asia and East Asia are in Israel, with Tel Aviv University in the country ranking 25th this year . However, there are only three universities in the top 100, two fewer than last year.

Iran's Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences was ranked for the first time this year , ranking 45th.

How are the names arranged?

Times Higher Education is recognized as one of the most influential and authoritative rankings in the world.

When ranking universities in Asia, THE adjusted the indicator weights to make them more suitable for universities in the region, and ultimately used 13 performance indicators for judging.

It is divided into 5 main aspects:

• Teaching environment (25%): university reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, etc.

• Research impact (30%): includes the number of citations of research

• Research quantity (30%): number of papers published, income and reputation

• International Outlook (7.5%): including the ratio of international students and faculty

• Corporate income (7.5%): refers to the research income that universities receive from companies through innovation, invention and consulting services

The reputation survey index is calculated using an exponential function, and all other indicators use the Z-score to calculate the cumulative probability function.

Finally, a standardized method for each indicator is used to obtain an overall score for a specific university.

Netizen: Did my alma mater rise or fall?

Regarding this newly released Asian university ranking, some people cheered for their alma mater:

Some people asked black questions:

Some people also lamented the incompatibility between their alma mater's professional ranking and comprehensive ranking:

This is a common occurrence. For example, in the 2021 Soft Science World Subject Rankings, Jiangnan University, which ranks first in the world in food science and engineering, was not listed in this ranking...

However, THE officials also stated that many strong schools that did not appear may have not participated in the registration:

Reference link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2uJqSn8z-74F9422HsYKZQ

THE official website:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/cn