London, : QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analyst and compiler of the QS World University Rankings, has released the fifteenth annual list ofAsia’s best universities. Evaluating the region’s institutions based on academic and employer recognition, research, resources and internationalisation, this year’s Asia Rankings is the largest ever, featuring 760 universities. Eligibility is now entirely based on the United Nations M49 Standard. This resulted in the addition of five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) and Iran.

The results see India’s premier institutions dominate Asian research production, according to the Papers per Faculty indicator. Three of its universities are among the region’s top-5 for this metric, including the Indian Institute of Science (52^nd) which produces the region’s second-highest amount of research, behind the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

For the first time ever, Peking University claims Asia’s top spot, interrupting the National University of Singapore (NUS)’s four-year run as the region’s best university. NUS falls to second place while another Chinese institution, Tsinghua University, comes third, breaking back into the regional top 3 after falling to 5^th in last year’s rankings.

India is the region’s second most represented location, with 118 featured institutions, just behind China (Mainland) with 128, and above Japan with 106.

Executive Summary India: QS University Rankings Asia 2023

• Outstanding level of research output by volume
• Overall decline: more drops than gains
• Highly trained faculty
• Strong international collaboration
• Significant improvements for specific institutions

Of India’s total ranked institutions, 19% improve, 66% decline and 14% remain stable. Three rank for the first time. The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) takes the country’s highest place, in 40^th regionally.

Focus: India

• Chandigarh University is Asia’s most improved university, climbing 68 positions to place 185^th. This is due to gains in 9/11 of QS’ metrics, most prominently in International Research Network. Meanwhile, Anna University is Asia’s third most improved university, up 47 places year-on-year thanks to improvements in four indicators. Again, its biggest improvement is in International Research Network.
• IITB is the national leader in both QS’ reputational indicators. Notably, it is among Asia’s top-20 for Employer Reputation.
• Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar enjoys the third highest teaching capacity in Asia, according to Faculty per Student Ratio.
• Twenty-four Indian universities rank among the region’s top-50 for the Staff with a PhD indicator.
  The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) is the national leader and Asia’s third-highest ranked in this metric.
• Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences produces India’s most impactful research according to Citations per Paper and is among Asia’s top-10 for this indicator. Its primary research area is Physics & Astronomy, however, its recent work in sustainability in agriculture has generated a particular impact. Furthermore, its overall research output has increased by an impressive 131% over the last three years.
• Alongside the Indian Institute of Science, Anna University and Bharathiar University, Coimbatore are among Asia’s five most prolific research institutions. India’s primary field of research is Engineering & Technology, specifically Computer Science and Petroleum Engineering. Papers per Faculty is also the only indicator in which the majority of India’s universities improve, with 58 moving up the ranking.
• Anna University takes India’s highest rank for International Research Network, narrowly beating its compatriot, the University of Delhi. India produces 21% of its overall research output alongside cross-border collaborators, and this collaborative research is responsible for 40% of its total citations over the past three years.
• Ashoka University boasts India’s most international faculty while Amity University enjoys the highest ratio of international students.

QS Senior Vice President Ben Sowter said: “Fifteen of the top 25 universities in the Paper per Faculty indicator, QS’s measure of research productivity, are Indian. This remarkable achievement is not yet mirrored in the Citations per Paper indicator, which we use to measure the impact of the research produced. In this metric, we find one Indian university among the region’s top 10 while all the others rank below the top 90. India has built an impressive research capability. Now it must focus on enhancing the quality, impact and influence of its research output. This, alongside other ambitious reforms set out in the National Education Policy 2020, will support India’s regional and global competitiveness.”

QS World University Rankings 2023: Asia Overview

• For the first time in eight years, a Singaporean university does not rank 1^st and Singapore does not dominate the top 3.
• Of locations with 10+ ranked institutions, South Korea enjoys the highest concentration of top-20 universities. Its premier university, KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), ranks 8^th – its highest result in five years.
• Japan and China each boast two universities in the top 5 for Academic and Employer Reputation. The University of Tokyo tops both these metrics.
• Singapore and Hong Kong-SAR produce high-impact research, with two institutions each among the top 5 for Citations/Paper.
• Hong Kong-SAR and Macau-SAR boast Asia’s most international faculty and student cohorts. Malaysia also asserts itself for International Students.
• Vietnam sees most improvement – 55% of its institutions rise.
• Of locations with 10+ ranked universities, Malaysia has the highest concentration of top-class institutions – 22% in top-100 and 17% in top-50.

Detailed information about QS’ methodology can be found at QS Asia University Rankings Methodology.

The full rankings can be found at www.topuniversities.com from Tuesday 8^th November 15:30 IST.

-Ends-

For further information or to request interviews with QS’ analysts, please contact:

Simona Bizzozero

Director of Communications

QS Quacquarelli Symonds

[email protected]

+44 (0) 7880620856

Will Barbieri

Communications Manager

QS Quacquarelli Symonds

[email protected]

QS Quacquarelli Symonds

QS Quacquarelli Symonds is the world’s leading provider of services, analytics, and insight to the global higher education sector, whose mission is to empower motivated people anywhere in the world to fulfil their potential through educational achievement, international mobility, and career development.

The QS World University Rankings portfolio, inaugurated in 2004, is the world’s most popular source of comparative data about university performance.

Their flagship website, www.TopUniversities.com – the home of their rankings – was viewed 147 million times in 2021, and over 96,000 media clippings pertaining to, or mentioning, QS were published by media outlets across the world in 2021.