In calculating the top universities in Asia, the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2018 use the same 13 performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings, but they are recalibrated to reflect the attributes of Asia’s institutions.
The universities are judged across all of their core missions – teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook – to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available.
Singapore is home to the continent’s best university for the third year in a row – the National University of Singapore – while Japan is once again the most-represented nation in the list, boasting 89 universities.
Meanwhile, Tsinghua University has overtaken Peking University to become the top Chinese institution in the rankings. Overall, the People’s Republic has 63 universities, many of which have made progress this year, including several of its lower-ranked institutions.
There is also success for Hong Kong, which has three universities in the top 10, more than any other territory, and six universities in the top 60.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s flagship institution, the University of Malaya, joins the top 50 for the first time, and Indonesia has doubled its representation, claiming four spaces in the table, up from two last year.
But most of Thailand’s 10 institutions have fallen down the table as the country grapples with an ageing population and oversupply of higher education. Taiwan has also suffered declines for these reasons.
Other nations are feeling the competition in the world’s largest continent. While India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea and Turkey have all increased their overall representation, several of their universities have fallen down the list.
This year’s table ranks just over 350 universities, up from about 300 last year. These universities come from 25 countries/regions.
| Best universities in Asia ranked by Times Higher Education 2018 | ||
| Rank | University name | Location |
| 1 | National University of Singapore | Singapore |
| 2 | Tsinghua University | China |
| 3 | Peking University | China |
| 4 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 5= | Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | Hong Kong |
| 5= | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore |
| 7 | Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 8 | University of Tokyo | Japan |
| 9 | Seoul National University | South Korea |
| 10 | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | South Korea |
| 11 | Kyoto University | Japan |
| 12 | Pohang University of Science and Technology | South Korea |
| 13 | Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) | South Korea |
| 14 | City University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 15 | University of Science and Technology of China | China |
| 16 | Fudan University | China |
| 17 | Nanjing University | China |
| 18 | Zhejiang University | China |
| 19 | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong |
| 20= | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China |
| 20= | Yonsei University (Seoul campus) | South Korea |
| 22 | Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology | South Korea |
| 23 | King Abdulaziz University | Saudi Arabia |
| 24 | Korea University | South Korea |
| 25 | Tel Aviv University | Israel |
| 26 | National Taiwan University | Taiwan |
| 27 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Israel |
| 28 | Osaka University | Japan |
| 29 | Indian Institute of Science | India |
| 30 | Tohoku University | Japan |
| 31 | Koç University | Turkey |
| 32 | Khalifa University | United Arab Emirates |
| 33 | Tokyo Institute of Technology | Japan |
| 34 | Sabanc谋 University | Turkey |
| 35 | Nagoya University | Japan |
| 36 | National Tsing Hua University | Taiwan |
| 37 | Babol Noshirvani University of Technology | Iran |
| 38 | Hanyang University | South Korea |
| 39 | Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology | South Korea |
| 40 | Kyung Hee University | South Korea |
| 41 | Technion Israel Institute of Technology | Israel |
| 42 | National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) | Taiwan |
| 43 | Sun Yat-sen University | China |
| 44 | Indian Institute of Technology Bombay | India |
| 45 | Wuhan University | China |
| 46 | University of Malaya | Malaysia |
| 47 | University of Macau | Macao |
| 48= | Kyushu University | Japan |
| 48= | National Chiao Tung University | Taiwan |
| 50 | Chung-Ang University | South Korea |
| 51 | Bar-Ilan University | Israel |
| 52 | Qatar University | Qatar |
| 53 | Tongji University | China |
| 54 | Bilkent University | Turkey |
| 55= | Hokkaido University | Japan |
| 55= | Hong Kong Baptist University | Hong Kong |
| 57 | Huazhong University of Science and Technology | China |
| 58 | National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) | Taiwan |
| 59 | King Saud University | Saudi Arabia |
| 60= | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur | India |
| 60= | Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) | Japan |
| 62 | Harbin Institute of Technology | China |
| 63 | University of Tsukuba | Japan |
| 64 | Tianjin University | China |
| 65= | Ewha Womans University | South Korea |
| 65= | Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee | India |
| 67 | Bo휓azi챌i University | Turkey |
| 68= | Alfaisal University | Saudi Arabia |
| 68= | Jordan University of Science and Technology | Jordan |
| 70 | Southeast University | China |
| 71 | United Arab Emirates University | United Arab Emirates |
| 72= | China Medical University, Taiwan | Taiwan |
| 72= | Soochow University | China |
| 74 | National Taiwan Normal University | Taiwan |
| 75= | American University of Beirut | Lebanon |
| 75= | Central China Normal University | China |
| 77= | Shandong University | China |
| 77= | University of Ulsan | South Korea |
| 79 | Quaid-i-azam University | Pakistan |
| 80 | Xiamen University | China |
| 81= | Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur | India |
| 81= | South China University of Technology | China |
| 83= | Fujita Health University | Japan |
| 83= | Sharif University of Technology | Iran |
| 83= | Taipei Medical University | Taiwan |
| 86 | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi | India |
| 87 | Renmin University of China | China |
| 88 | Amirkabir University of Technology | Iran |
| 89 | East China Normal University | China |
| 90 | Xi’an Jiaotong University | China |
| 91= | East China University of Science and Technology | China |
| 91= | Istanbul Technical University | Turkey |
| 91= | King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | Saudi Arabia |
| 94 | Beihang University | China |
| 95 | Konkuk University | South Korea |
| 96 | Isfahan University of Technology | Iran |
| 97= | Mahidol University | Thailand |
| 97= | Pusan National University | South Korea |
| 99 | Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) | Malaysia |
| 100= | University of Haifa | Israel |
| 100= | Sejong University | South Korea |
| 100= | Tezpur University | India |
