Webometrics 2021: Vietnam National University, Hanoi ranks 17th in Southeast Asia and among the top 1000 worldwide.

Figure 1: Vietnam National University, Hanoi ranked 17th among Southeast Asian universities and 1000th in the world in the Webometrics ranking, January 2021 (Source: Webometrics.info)

Webometrics is an automated ranking system that assesses the digital capabilities and the reach and influence of academic resources of higher education institutions based on indicators of the reach and influence of their websites and online information systems.e), openness to academic resources (opennesS) on Google Scholar, and scientific citation index on the Scopus database system (excellence) of a higher education institution.

Figure 2: Top 10 higher education institutions in Vietnam in the Webometrics ranking, January 2021 (Source: Webometrics.info)

In this ranking, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) is ranked number 1 in Vietnam and 1000th in the world (an increase of 96 places compared to the July 2020 ranking, which was 17th in Southeast Asia and 237th in Asia).

In the January 2021 ranking period, Webometrics changed its ranking methodology compared to the previous period (July 2020). Specifically, the criterion “Presence" (Amount of digitized resources) has been removed from this ranking method and the criterion weighting has been reduced.Excellence" increased by 5% compared to the previous ranking (from 35% in July 2020 to 40% in January 2021).

Regarding rankings by individual criteria, this ranking shows an increase in position across all three criteria.Visibility(Level of impact);Openness(Opening) andExcellence(Excellent) – ranked 1651st, 1115th, and 1096th respectively (compared to 1987th, 1507th, and 1131st) – demonstrates the comprehensive development of VNU in the Webometrics ranking, reflected in the increase in the quality of international scientific publications, the level of academic dissemination, and the scope of influence of its online resource system.

In 2020, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) continued to maintain its strong ranking. For the first time, VNU was included in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2020 (THE Asia, published on June 4, 2020), ranking in the 201-250 group, leading Vietnam in overall ranking and achieving the highest scores in key criteria such as Teaching, Research, and Internationalization. Currently, VNU is also the only Vietnamese university in the 801-1000 group of the THE World University Rankings 2021.

On June 24, 2020, the QS University Rankings (Quacquarelli Symonds, UK) announced the results of the QS Top 50 Under 50 2021 ranking, for universities established less than 50 years ago. Accordingly, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) made its first appearance in this ranking, placing in the 101-150 group of top-performing young universities worldwide. Thus, VNU, along with Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, became the only two higher education institutions in Vietnam to be included in this ranking.

On September 2nd, 2020, the Times Higher Education (THE) published the results of the World University Rankings (WUR 2021). Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) and two other Vietnamese higher education institutions were ranked by THE alongside 1527 leading universities worldwide. According to the ranking report, VNU is in the 801-1000 group globally; Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi University of Science and Technology are in the 1001+ group. Thus, VNU is the only Vietnamese higher education institution in the top 1000 universities in this ranking.

Times Higher Education (THE) evaluates universities globally based on research into a university's core mission, using standardized metrics to provide comprehensive and fair comparisons. Therefore, THE is trusted by students, scholars, higher education institutions, governments, and the academic community. Based on the SCOPUS scientific database (provided by Elsevier Publishing), independent surveys, and university data, THE's scoring and data processing are overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), an independent and professional auditing organization.

According to the rankings, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) consistently ranks in the 801-1000 group of the best universities globally. Although it has consistently maintained this ranking group, VNU's ranking score has steadily increased, leading to a gradual improvement in its overall ranking. Specifically, in the two previous rankings, VNU was in the top 78.5% (2019) and 74.9% (2020) of leading universities. In this latest ranking, VNU has risen to the top 67.5% of leading universities worldwide.

On November 25, 2020, the Asian University Rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS AUR) announced its ranking results. Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) reached the top 24% of higher education institutions in Asia (position 160). Compared to its best performance in the 2019 ranking, VNU narrowed the gap with the top institutions by 0.7%.

The QS AUR 2021 rankings include 634 higher education institutions in Asia (of which 93 are participating for the first time). The ranking results are based on data from 1.6 million academic nominations and 310,000 employer nominations, gathering 102,500 responses from academics and 52,000 employers globally, and analyzing 138 million citations (2014-2019) from 18 million publications (2014-2018).