Singapore dominates Asian university rankings as NUS, NTU clinch top two spots for the first time

Higher research spending is a key factor.

Singapore is home to the best two universities in Asia for the first time, the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2016 revealed.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) claimed the top position, while its neighbour Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is in joint second place with China’s Peking University. The results mark the highest positions for the two Singaporean institutions in the rankings’ four-year history.

According to Bertil Andersson, president of NTU, higher government funding for research and academia is behind Singapore’s success.

“Singapore is one of the countries that, in the past 10 or 15 years has invested maybe the most in academic research globally, if you compare it to the size of the country,” he noted at the International Higher Education Forum in London earlier this year.

Since 2011, NTU has risen 119 places to reach 55th in the 2015‑16 rankings, while the National University of Singapore has climbed 14 places since 2012 to reach 26th place.

NUS and NTU both achieve very high scores for international outlook. Top-ranked NUS also achieves the highest score for research in the 200-strong list, while NTU, in joint second place (with China’s Peking University), scores the best on research influence (citations).