Academic Ranking of World Universities 2018: Asian universities climb

Results of the 2018 Academic Ranking of World Universities

Two leading Asian universities have joined the top 100 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities for the first time, while a new French merger makes its debut in the top 40.

China’s Zhejiang University claims 67th place while Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University features at 96th place in the ranking, which is based on research prowess and is compiled by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Both universities were in the 101-150 band last year.

The movement means that China has joined Japan in having three institutions in the top 100. The University of Tokyo is still the leading Asian institution in the table at 22nd place (up from 24th), above Kyoto University at 35th. China’s leading institution, Tsinghua University, is third in Asia at 45th place (up from 48th).

Meanwhile, Sorbonne University – a new merger between Pierre and Marie Curie University and Paris-Sorbonne University – takes 36th place, making it the third best institution in continental Europe (behind ETH Zurich at 19th and the University of Copenhagen at 29th). Last year, Pierre and Marie Curie University was ranked 40th and Paris-Sorbonne did not feature, suggesting that the new institution is already reaping rewards as a result of the merger.

However, the top 500 table is still dominated by the US, and the top 10 remains unchanged since last year: Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge make up the top three. Overall, 139 US universities and 39 UK universities make the top 500.

The ARWU is based on the following indicators: the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel prizes and Fields Medals; the number of highly cited researchers; the number of articles published in Nature and Science journals; the number of articles indexed in Clarivate Analytics’ Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index; and per capita performance.

Academic Ranking of World Universities 2018: top 10

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com