ASIAN universities are becoming “serious global players” in the fields of science and technology according to tables published today ranking the world’s top universities by subject.
Although the United States and United Kingdom continue to dominate in a wide variety of subjects, they face increasing competition from Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and China in the STEM fields - science, technology, engineering and maths.
Globally, US university Harvard remains the best all-round institution in the 2014 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject. It was considered the best university for 11 of the 30 disciplines, including mathematics, law and accounting & finance. Its closest rival is neighbouring university Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which ranked first in nine subjects including computer science and chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.
Next came Oxford University in the UK, which is rated number one in the world in three subjects - English language and literature, modern languages, and politics.
A clutch of other US and UK institutions make up the top 10.
However, Asia accounts for 10 of the top 30 institutions in chemical, civil and electrical engineering, and eight in mechanical engineering.
“The UK remains second only to the US, but it now faces far stiffer competition in the STEM disciplines”, said QS head of research Ben Sowter. “The leading Asian institutions can now be considered serious global players, particularly in the fields of science and technology”.
Of the ten disciplines with the most UK universities in the top 50, only one is in an STEM discipline. The UK has 15 of the top 50 universities for English language and literature, but just three for civil engineering, fewer than Australia and Hong Kong.
National University of Singapore makes the global top ten in all five of the engineering and technology disciplines, while Hong Kong accounts for three of the top 20 institutions for computer science: HKUST (11th), HKU (14th), and Chinese University of Hong Kong (18th). Nanyang Technical University in Singapore has the eighth best Materials Science course and the 10th best Electrical & Electronic Engineering courses, according to the rankings.
“The STEM disciplines have been the primary focus of global competition over the past decade, as institutions in countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Korea have emerged as genuine competitors to the traditional research powerhouses in the US and UK,” said Sowter.
