World's top young universities revealed

World's top young universities revealed

QS Top 50 under 50 released on TopUniversities.com

Universities from Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea took the top five positions in this year’s QS Top 50 under 50, a ranking of universities which have been established within the past 50 years. Australia also triumphs with eight institutions featured, the most out of the 27 countries represented, followed by Spain with five.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) takes 1st place, followed by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) at 2nd; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) at 3rd; City University of Hong Kong at 4th and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) at 5th.

Compiled by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the leading global and regional university ranking researchers, the QS Top 50 under 50 is based on results from the QS World University Rankings 2013/14, a list of the world’s top 800 universities.

Institutions established in 1964 or earlier are now no longer qualified for inclusion, therefore, last year’s entrants of The University of Warwick (UK), Lancaster University (UK), Macquarie University (AUS) and The University of Essex (UK) are now excluded.

Top 10- QS Top 50 under 50

Ben Sowter, head of research at QS says: “The dynamic nature of this ranking makes it an interesting comparison with our global and regional rankings. In an industry where a longer history is often seen as more desirable, universities which have been established for longer often hold reputational advantages over younger institutions. By focusing on the performance of these younger institutions alone, the list aims to spot the up-and-coming higher education powerhouses in the global arena.”

Sowter continues: “The list currently has four 1965 foundations, six from 1966, and one from 1967. It’s likely that these changes will continue to drive the QS Top 50 Under 50 for at least two more years as 10 of the 50 vanish. Whilst Asian institutions may dominate the top of the list today, Australia’s many young institutions may close the gap shortly.”

The full QS Top 50 Under 50 is available on www.TopUniversities.com/50under50

(*) Formed through the merging of institutions, some parts of the institution may pre-date this foundation year. Mergers where the dominant part in the merger pre-dates the last fifty years, particularly where an original name survives the merger, are not considered.

(**) An institution of higher education, although typically not one with university status, existed at the site where this university now stands - the university can "trace its roots" back further than fifty years but cannot claim to have been a university prior to that period

Inclusion criteria for the QS Top 50 Under 50
This table ranks the universities that have been established since 1964 according to their position in the QS World University Rankings 2013/14.

The following guidelines have been employed to decide on eligibility:

• In the case of universities that have been formed through mergers of pre-existing institutions, we have taken the foundation date of the institution that represents the principal component of the merger, where such a party has been clearly identifiable.

• Where a clear principal component cannot be identified, the establishment date of the youngest institution in the merger prevails.

• Where a new university has been created as a result of a split or a demerger, the establishment date of the resultant new university has been considered valid, providing that its predecessor closed prior to the opening of the new institution - as, for example, in the cases of Tsukuba University and Nanyang Technological University.

• In instances of universities that were formerly branches or affiliated colleges of other universities, we have taken the date when the newly formed institution was granted the ability to award degrees in its own name. Institutions that had degree-awarding status 50 years ago as constituent members of a university from which they have subsequently separated, have not been included.

• Institutions created within the past 50 years as the result of a separation from a full degree-awarding institution have not been included.

• In instances where ambiguity has been identified, eligibility has been decided by QS Intelligence Unit on a case-by-case basis following careful consideration and in accordance with the guidelines outlined above.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds
Since 1990, QS has become established as the world’s leading network for top careers and education. Producers of the QS World University Rankings®, QS’s innovative research, events, publications and university solutions provide new ways of bringing universities into contact with the best and brightest students worldwide.

QS World University Rankings ®
Now in their 10th edition, the 2013/14 QS World University Rankings will rank the world’s top 800 universities (out of over 3,000 considered) adding 100+ new universities into the current list of the world’s best institutions.

The QS World University Rankings is made up of six indicators: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), faculty student ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), international students (5%) and international faculty (5%). This year, 62,094 academic and 27,957 employer responses contributed towards the results, making both surveys the largest of their kind in the world.

Compiled by the QS Intelligence Unit in close consultation with an international advisory board of leading academics, the QS World University Rankings ® is widely referenced by prospective and current students, university professionals and governments worldwide. The purpose of the rankings has been to recognize universities as the multi-faceted organizations they are and to provide a global comparison of their success against the notional mission of remaining or becoming world-class. The rankings are based on four key pillars, research, teaching, employability and internationalization.

Scopus Database from Elsevier
QS Rankings use citation data from Scopus which is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality Web sources. Its unique database contains abstracts and references from over 18,000 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers, ensuring broad interdisciplinary coverage. Scopus is a trusted source of bibliometric data, also used by many other organisations including: the OECD, the Australian Research Council, iFQ ( Institut für Forschungsinformation und Qualitätssicherung) and ISTEP (National Institute of Science and Technology Policy of Japan).

Ben Sowter
Sowter is the Head of Research at QS, QS Intelligence Unit. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Nottingham, where he was also awarded the Union Prize for outstanding contribution to the student union and served as chairman of the Nottingham University Debating Society. Ben is fully responsible for the operational management of all major QS research projects and is actively involved in all the collection, compilation and tabulation of all the data that lead to, amongst others, the World University Rankings research in which he has been involved since its initial inception in 2004. A frequent contributor to the press, Ben’s opinion on global education trends and his expertise is used regularly by major global publications.

ENDS

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