Times Higher Education's 2021 World's Best Young Universities Ranking: Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) ranks 251–300 in its first appearance.

The 2021 THE Young University Rankings are a separate ranking of the best universities in the world established less than 50 years ago. In fact, this ranking uses a similar evaluation methodology to the THE World University Rankings, but the weighting of the criteria is adjusted to reflect the mission and role of young universities in the context of educational globalization, where universities are expanding and focusing investment on research.

Figure 1: Vietnamese universities in the Young University Rankings 2021

Source: timeshigereducation.com

The 2021 Young University Rankings rank universities based on a set of 13 indicators across 5 major criteria: Teaching (30% of the total score), Research (30%), Scientific Citations (30%), International Outlook (7.5%), and Income from Knowledge Transfer (2.5%).

Figure 2: Ranking criteria for the Young University Ranking 2021

Source: timeshigereducation.com 

In the 2021 ranking, the Young University Rankings included 475 higher education institutions from 68 countries and territories (an increase of 61 institutions compared to 2020). Vietnam had two higher education institutions ranked. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, participated in the ranking for the first time and ranked in the 251-300 group globally, followed by Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, which ranked in the 401+ group.

With a strategy of continuously improving the quality of training and scientific research, and adhering to a philosophy of sustainable development, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) has consistently made positive progress in enhancing its influence and ranking. In its first participation in the Young University Rankings 2021, VNU achieved the highest rating in the Teaching (Learning Environment) criterion, with a score 2.3% higher than the average of the 50 ranked institutions in the 251-300 group; and even 6.3% higher than the average of the 52 ranked institutions in the 201-250 group worldwide. Furthermore, compared to the ranking results, VNU also had two other criteria, International Outlook and Citations, with scores higher than the average in the 251-300 group by 12.9% and 11.3% respectively. The ranking score of the Knowledge Transfer Income Index for Vietnam National University, Hanoi is close to the average score of the 201-250 and 251-300 groups, being only 0.5% lower than the 201-250 group and 1% lower than the 251-300 group.

Below is a comparison table of the VNU's ranking score with the average score of educational institutions ranked 201-250 and 251-300 worldwide:

According to the latest Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2021, South Korea has the highest number of top-ranked young universities in the world among the 68 countries and territories participating in the ranking. The East Asian nation secured three positions in the top 10 of the young university rankings, more than any other country or territory. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) ranked fourth, up from fifth last year; Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) remained eighth; and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) ranked tenth, up from 17th in the 2020 ranking. In addition, four other South Korean institutions were included in the ranking.

This is the first year that the top 10 includes a large number of young Asian universities. The outstanding performance of young universities in South Korea is part of a trend towards development and quality improvement, reflecting the steady growth of higher education in Asia. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, leads the ranking for the first time (last year it was second), while Hong Kong has two representatives in the top 10: the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (third, down from number 1 in 2020) and City University of Hong Kong (fifth, compared to seventh in 2020).

Among the 61 higher education institutions participating in the 2021 Young University Rankings for the first time, the University of Paris-Saclay in France achieved the highest ranking at position 22.

The United Kingdom remains the most represented country in the ranking, with 37 educational institutions, followed by India in second place (up from third in 2020) with 34 institutions, and Spain with 33 institutions.

In the last 3-4 years, Vietnam National University, Hanoi has consistently ranked among the top 801-1000 universities in the world in both the QS and THE rankings; it has also been included in the THE and QS Asia University Rankings; and it is among the top 101-150 best young universities in the world according to the QS rankings.

Furthermore, on April 21, 2021, THE announced the results of the THE Impact Rankings 2021 (a ranking assessing the impact of universities worldwide on the community based on the criteria of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations). VNU ranked 401-600 globally. Notably, regarding Sustainable Development Goal SDG 4: Quality Education, this is the highest-ranked goal, and VNU reached the top 100 globally in this category, ranking 92nd out of 966 participating educational institutions.

In terms of subject rankings, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) currently has 5 fields ranked by QS: Computer Science and Information Systems (ranked 601-650 worldwide), Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace and Manufacturing (451-500), Mathematics (401-450), Physics and Astronomy (501-550), and Business and Management Studies (501-550). In the THE rankings, VNU has 3 fields ranked: Computer Science (501-600 worldwide), Physical Sciences (601-800), and Engineering & Technology (401-500).