Once again, no Pakistani university found a mark in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education’s (THE) Asia University Rankings 2016 released on Monday.

The expansion of the THE Asia university rankings to include 200 institutions, however, allowed two Pakistani universities ─ Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad, and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) ─ to win places in the rankings where QAU stands at 101st and NUST at 121st.

Times Higher Education
Asia University Rankings 2016 ─ Top 10

1. National University of Singapore
2/3. Nanyang Technological University/Peking University
4.University of Hong Kong
5. Tsinghua University
6. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
7. University of Tokyo
8. Pohang University of Science and Technology
9. Seoul National University
10. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Singapore marked an impressive place in the rankings by taking the top two places. Its National University of Singapore is at the top followed by Nanyang Technological University at a joint second place with Peking University.

The top five is completed by the University of Hong Kong in fourth place and Tsinghua University in fifth, also giving China two places in the top five.

In the next five places are Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (6th), the University of Tokyo (7th), Pohang University of Science and Technology (8th), Seoul National University (9th) and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (10th).

There is a reason why Asia is so often predicted to be the next world higher education super power – because all the evidence suggests it is true.

THE Editor Phil Baty

The top 10 demonstrates the role of science and technology-focused institutions at the pinnacle of Asian universities and also reflects the strength of government-supported excellence initiatives across the region.

Pakistan’s neighbors India has 16 universities ranked, Iran eight, China 39 and Afghanistan nil.

However, the highest-performing institutions are located in the eastern and southeastern Asian countries, with 41 of the top 50 distributed between seven territories ─ China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macao, Singapore and Taiwan. The outstanding performance of universities in these markets follows significant investment and political will in governments determined to earn their place among the global higher education elite.

THE Editor Phil Baty says: "There is a reason why Asia is so often predicted to be the next world higher education super power ─ because all the evidence suggests it is true."

Baty noted, "It was highly symbolic that this year China overtook the US as home to the highest number of researchers in the world, and the increasing quantity of research coming out of the region is matched by improving quality too."

"And across the continent, particularly in the rising economies of East Asia, there is evidence of growing strength in higher education ─ backed by government and industry united in their support for strong research-universities, committed university leadership, dynamic and innovative institutions, and a society ready to recognise that their education systems are among their most precious national assets," Baty said.

“In my 20 years of working in the higher education sector, including seven years as editor of Times Higher Education’s gold-standard global rankings, it has never been as clear to me that the balance of power is shifting from the West to the East.”

The methodology for the THE Asia University Rankings uses the same 13 indicators as the World University Rankings but a variation on the weighting between those indicators.

Following consultation with universities and higher education bodies across the region, the Asia ranking places less emphasis on reputation elements but places more importance on industry income and research income, and also on productivity, in terms of publications.

This is the first time the Asia University Rankings uses a bespoke methodology and means that the ranked list differs from a filter of the World University Rankings for Asian nations.