Hong Kong’s oldest university has been ranked seventh in the latest global league table for education, and has placed among the top 20 for medical and health.
Renowned British publication Times Higher Education (THE) released its annual subject rankings on Wednesday. The lists cover 11 subject areas and assess them using 18 performance metrics, such as teaching, research and internationalisation.
The latest rankings also saw Peking University and Tsinghua University enter the top 10 rankings for computer science and physical sciences, respectively, for the first time.
THE said the move represented an “emerging new world order” as the rankings for the two subjects were previously dominated by universities in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Institutions in the US topped eight of the subject rankings, while the UK held first place in three of the listings.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) performed the best among the city’s universities, with its education studies being the only local programme to make a top 10 ranking.
“Hong Kong remains in the top 10 for education with the University of Hong Kong in seventh place, down from sixth,” it said.
The education programme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) ranked 13th, down from 11th in the previous listing.
In terms of medical and health studies, HKU climbed three spots to reach 18th, while CUHK fell two places to 26th.
Polytechnic University (PolyU), which earlier lost the bid to establish the city’s third medical school, remained in the 151-175 band for medical and health.
PolyU also managed to surpass the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in terms of business and economics, climbing 12 spots to 25th place, making the former the highest-scoring local institution for the subject.
HKUST rose three places to 30th for the subject.
HKUST managed to rise three places to 25th for computer science, while HKU jumped to 27th for law.
A spokesman for HKU said its achievements in these rankings reflected the exceptional dedication of its faculty and students, whose pioneering research, innovative teaching, and commitment to societal progress continued to elevate the university’s global standing in higher education.
THE said China was the best-performing Asian country in the rankings with seven top 10 places, up from its previous four.
Peking University also became the first mainland university to join the top 10 in computer science, going from 12th place to 10th.
Tsinghua University was also the first mainland institution to make the top 10 for physical sciences, in 10th place.
In engineering, Peking University rose from 11th to eighth position, giving Asia two universities in the top 10 for the subject. The National University of Singapore (NUS) ranked 10th.
The two mainland universities and NUS placed third, seventh and 10th for business and economics, marking the first time three Asian universities were listed in the top 10.
THE chief global affairs officer Phil Baty said the latest rankings showed East Asia’s rising power, led by China, was now challenging the dominance of Western countries in certain academic fields.
“This year’s exceptionally rich data provides further evidence of an emerging new world order – where Western dominance of higher education and research is steadily being challenged by the rapidly rising powers of East Asia,” THE said.
“East Asian nations, led by China, are making particularly remarkable strides in geopolitically strategic areas, including computer science and physical sciences.”
THE also noted that while Asian universities already excelled and improved in science-based subjects, they were now gaining prominence in subjects such as law, education, arts and humanities.
“The United States and United Kingdom dominate the top 10 of the subject rankings, but East Asia is making significant strides forward at the top of the tables, demonstrating the region’s growing strength in competing at the very highest levels,” THE said.
The publication said the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was the strongest-performing university, ranking first for three subjects: arts and humanities, business and economics, and social sciences.
“While the US dominates the top of the rankings, its overall numbers in the top 200 have dropped. It has 565 places across the 11 subject rankings, down from 590 last year,” THE said. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
