Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021: VNU ranked 251–300 in first entry

THE Young University Rankings 2021 is a separate ranking of the world's best universities established under 50 years ago. In fact, this ranking uses the same evaluation method as the THE World University Rankings, but the weights of the above criteria are adjusted to reflect the mission and role of young universities, in the context of global education globalization, universities are expanding in scale and focusing on investment in research.

Figure 1: Vietnamese universities in the Young University Rankings 2021

Source: timeshigereducation.com

The Young University Rankings 2021 ranks universities based on a set of criteria including 13 indicators under 5 major criteria: Teaching (accounting for 30% of the total score), Research (30%), Scientific citations (30%), International outlook (7.5%), Income from knowledge transfer (2.5%).

Figure 2: Ranking criteria of the Young University Ranking 2021

Source: timeshigereducation.com 

In the 2021 ranking, the Young University Rankings has 475 higher education institutions from 68 countries and territories (an increase of 61 institutions compared to 2020). Vietnam has 2 higher education institutions ranked. VNU-Hanoi participated in the ranking for the first time and was ranked in the 251-300 group in the world, followed by VNU-HCM with a ranking in the 401+ group.

With a strategy of constantly improving the quality of training and scientific research, aiming at the philosophy of sustainable development, VNU has always had positive changes in enhancing its influence and ranking position. In its first participation in the Young University Rankings 2021, VNU received the highest rating in the Teaching criterion (Learning environment) when the ranking score in this criterion was 2.3% higher than the average score of 50 educational institutions ranked in the 251-300 group; even 6.3% higher than the average score of 52 educational institutions in the 201-250 group in the world. In addition, compared with the ranking results, VNU also has 2 other criteria, International Outlook and Citations, with higher scores than the average in the 251-300 group by 12.9% and 11.3%, respectively. The ranking score of the Income from Knowledge Transfer Index of VNU is close to the average score of the 201-250 and 251-300 groups, only 0.5% lower than the 201-250 group and 1% lower than the 251-300 group.

Below is a comparison table of VNU's assessment scores and the average scores of educational institutions ranked 201-250 and 251-300 in the world:

According to the latest Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2021, South Korea has the most number of young universities in the world out of 68 countries and territories that participated in the ranking. The East Asian country took three spots in the top 10 of the Young University Rankings, more than any other country or region. 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 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) ranked 10th, up from 17th in the 2020 rankings. In addition, South Korea has four other educational institutions in the Rankings.

This is the first year that the top 10 has featured a large number of young Asian universities. The strong performance of young universities in South Korea is part of a growing and improving trend, reflecting the steady growth of higher education in Asia. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, leads the rankings for the first time (last year it was second), while Hong Kong has two representatives in the top 10: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (third, down from first place in 2020) and City University of Hong Kong (fifth, down from seventh place in 2020).

Among the 61 universities participating in the Young University Rankings 2021 for the first time, France's University of Paris-Saclay has the highest ranking result at 22nd place in the rankings.

The UK remains the most represented territory in the ranking, with 37 institutions, India is now second (up from third in 2020) with 34 institutions, and Spain with 33 institutions.

In the past 3-4 years, VNU has always maintained its position in the group of 801-1000 best universities in the world in both QS and THE rankings; appeared in the Asian university rankings of THE and QS; and belonged to the group of top 101-150 best young universities in the world of QS.

In addition, on April 21, 2021, THE announced the ranking results of THE Impact Rankings 2021 (A ranking that assesses the impact of universities in the world on the community according to the assessment criteria of 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations), VNU ranked 401-600 in the world. In particular, regarding Sustainable Development Goal SDG 4: Quality Education, this is the highest ranked goal and VNU has reached the world's top 100 in this goal, when the ranking result was at position 92/966 educational institutions participating in the ranking in this criterion.

In terms of field rankings, VNU currently has 5 fields ranked by QS, which are Computer Science and Information Systems (ranked 601-650 in the world), Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautics and Manufacturing (451-500), Mathematics (401-450), Physics and Astronomy (501-550), Business and Management Studies (501-550). In THE Ranking, 3 fields of VNU are ranked including: Computer Science (501-600 in the world), Physical Sciences (601-800), Engineering & Technology (401-500).