The increasing influence of Asia’s young institutions has been revealed in the QS’s latest University Rankings for Asia and the new QS Top 50 under 50, a global ranking of universities established since 1962.


Aged just 21 years, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) tops the 2012 QS University Rankings: Asia league table for the second year, while a record four universities in the top ten are less than 50 years old.


In a separate companion table, QS Top 50 under 50, Chinese University of Hong Kong (49 years), is named the top young university in the world, followed HKUST in 2nd place. No young Thai institutions entered the list.


As young, rising stars are identified; the first signs of erosion in the performance of some long- established institutions also emerge.


A year after China overtook Japan as the world’s second largest economy, nine of the top ten Mainland Chinese universities improved on their 2011 position with Peking University overtaking University of Tokyo for the first time. In contrast, the top ten Japanese universities all moved backwards.


The two new QS university ranking tables point to the emergence of young Asian institutions as the ages of the top ten in the QS University Rankings: Asia dropped to a record low of just 77.5 years; four of the top ten was established less than 50 years ago.


These young Asian institutions are also making waves in the global rankings arena as four of the top five of the QS Top 50 under 50 hailed from the region.


“As the West tightens its belt following the recession, Asian governments are investing heavily, particularly in scientific research”, says QS head of research Ben Sowter. “The emergence of Asia’s young, science-focused institutions has been one of the key trends in our regional and world university rankings in recent years.”


Sowter adds, “The fact that three of the world’s top ten young universities are from Hong Kong is a remarkable statistic that highlights the rapid speed at which its young institutions are developing.”


The full top 300 list of QS University Rankings: Asia and the QS Top 50 under 50 can be found on www.topuniversities.com


How Do QS Rankings: Asia Work?


Published for the first time in 2009, the QS University Rankings: Asia is published annually and ranks Asia’s top 300 universities based on relevant criteria including:


Criteria Academic reputation Employer reputation Student/faculty Ratio Papers per faculty Citations per paper Internationalization


Student exchange inbound


Student exchange outbound


Weight 30% 10% 20% 15% 15% 5%


2.5% 2.5%


QS World University Rankings®


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