Media

Times Higher Education names HKU No. 1 in Asia and 21st in the world

16 Sep 2010

 

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has been ranked the world's 21st and Asia's number one in the new Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings released today (September 16, 2010).

HKU Vice-Chancellor Professor Lap-Chee Tsui said he was elated by the news that HKU has again been rated so favorably, both in Asia and internationally.  On September 8, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rated HKU top in Asia and the world's 23^rd.

"The University's world-class standing and success, as reflected in these ranking exercises, are due to the commitment and hard work of all members of the HKU community - staff, students, alumni and friends," Professor Tsui said.

THE has employed a new set of 13 indicators of different weights, measuring university performance in research, teaching and learning, internationalisation and industry income.

THE has assigned considerable weight (62.5%) to research-related performance indicators and relatively less to teaching and learning environment (30%), internationalization (5%), and industry income (2.5%).

HKU has been awarded a highly impressive score in its citation impact and research influence.

"One should not be surprised because more than 10% (100) of our professoriate staff have long been identified as top 1% researchers by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).

"The THE ranking reaffirms our belief that the University is taking the right direction in its research strategies and policies," Professor Tsui added.

He further remarked that there are various ways to measure the performance of a university, and different rankings yield different results. "We should always try to understand the meaning and interpretation of the criteria used," he said.

Further details about the THE rankings can be found at http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk