Young University Rankings 2022: of origins and ambitions

For young universities, it’s not about where they’re from but where they’re going, says Ellie Bothwell

二月 15, 2022

**View the THE Young University Rankings 2022 results**

The institutions in our Young University Rankings are united by their recent foundation dates; only universities that are aged 50 years and under are included in the annual list of the world’s top newcomers in higher education. But the stories and circumstances around their creations are very different.

There are universities that were established in response to growing demand for higher education in rapidly developing industrial cities, such as the 10-year-old Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in China.

Others are the result of mergers and consortia of institutions with older histories; this is most notably the case in France, where there has been a government drive to create several “mega universities” that will be more visible on the global stage (see analysis).

Then there are institutions that already seem to be such an established part of the global higher education landscape – for example, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore or The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – that it is hard to believe that they are only three decades old.

The results of our Young University Rankings 2022 suggest that there is not one route to success for newer institutions; universities with all types of foundation histories and visions, operating in all kinds of contexts, feature at the top of the list, while almost all regions of the world have young universities that are making progress (see graphics).

But global shifts are taking place. On the one hand, Asia is becoming a more prominent region in the ranking, with India and Turkey now leading the list in terms of representation. On the other, it is the first time an institution in the continent has not led the ranking since 2017; this spot is now taken by one of France’s collegiate universities.

Despite the diverse list, there is another factor that appears to connect many young universities: their ambition and ability to do things differently. The president of Université de l’Ontario français, a new francophone university in Canada, explains how the institution is taking a transdisciplinary and experiential approach to teaching, while the leader of Maastricht University reveals how she is recognising talent beyond research.

It is this willingness to innovate and challenge the status quo that makes our ranking of the world’s top young universities something truly worth celebrating.

**Countries/regions represented in the THE Young University Rankings 2022**

Note: excludes countries with only one ranked institution

Country/region	Number of institutions	Top institution	Rank
India	40	JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research	=70
Turkey	40	Koç University	=89
Iran	37	Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences	67
United Kingdom	37	Brighton and Sussex Medical School	32
Spain	32	Pompeu Fabra University	16
France	24	Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris	1
Australia	23	University of Technology Sydney	8
Egypt	17	Aswan University	=126
Taiwan	17	National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University	49
Italy	16	Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa	14
Japan	16	University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan	=102
Brazil	14	Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR)	251–300
Pakistan	14	Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan	187
Malaysia	13	Universiti Teknologi Petronas	=119
Saudi Arabia	12	Alfaisal University	=36
Chile	11	Universidad Autónoma de Chile	=144
China	11	Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)	13
Algeria	9	Ferhat Abbas Sétif University 1	=140
Germany	8	University of Potsdam	28
Portugal	8	NOVA University of Lisbon	=77
Greece	7	Harokopio University	76
South Korea	7	Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)	11
Czech Republic	6	University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice	251–300
Tunisia	6	University of Manouba, University of Sfax, University of Tunis El Manar	351–400
United States	6	George Mason University	=47
Morocco	5	Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University	251–300
Russian Federation	5	HSE University	66
South Africa	5	University of KwaZulu-Natal	64
United Arab Emirates	5	Khalifa University	=47
Austria	4	Medical University of Graz	20
Canada	4	Concordia University	177
Hong Kong	4	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	3
Jordan	4	Jordan University of Science and Technology	=106
Republic of Ireland	4	Maynooth University	=106
Sweden	4	Linköping University	38
Vietnam	4	Ton Duc Thang University	98
Cyprus	3	University of Cyprus	=99
Finland	3	Aalto University	30
Indonesia	3	BINUS University, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Telkom University	401+
Israel	3	University of Haifa	169
Romania	3	Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, University of Oradea	401+
Thailand	3	Mae Fah Luang University	201–250
Belgium	2	University of Antwerp	7
Croatia	2	University of Split	301–350
Denmark	2	Aalborg University	=34
Ecuador	2	Universidad San Francisco de Quito	251–300
Macao	2	University of Macau	=26
Netherlands	2	Erasmus University Rotterdam	4
Nigeria	2	Covenant University	201–250
Northern Cyprus	2	Eastern Mediterranean University	=153
Poland	2	SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities	301–350
Slovenia	2	University of Maribor, University of Primorska	351–400