HKUST Leapfrogs HKU to Top 2011 QS Asian University Rankings(TM)

LONDON, May 22, 2011 -

- (Rankings live on
www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asian-university-rankings/2011
)

HKUST leapfrogs HKU and stays ahead of NUS and Tokyo
- Japan is the best-represented nation, with five of the top 10 and 57 of the
top 200 universities, ahead of China (40) and South Korea (35), Taiwan (16),
India (11), Thailand (9), Indonesia (8), Malaysia (7) and Hong Kong (7) - 13
countries represented, with Bangladesh and Pakistan as new entries

Top five universities

    2011 2010 Institution name                                   Country
                                                                 /Territory

       1    2  The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology  Hong Kong
       2    1  University of Hong Kong                           Hong Kong
       3    3  National University of Singapore (NUS)            Singapore
       4    5  The University of Tokyo                           Japan
       5    4  The Chinese University of Hong Kong               Hong Kong

(View the top 200 at
www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asian-university-rankings/2011
)

The 2011 QS Asian University Rankings(TM) show that Hong Kong's
universities still lead the way despite massive investment from China, Japan,
Korea and India. HKUST has underlined its ambitious development by narrowly
overtaking HKU to top the table, while Chinese University of Hong Kong
retains its place in the top five.

"Both HKUST and HKU are strong across most of the indicators, with their
truly international character setting them apart," says Ben Sowter, head of
QS Intelligence Unit. "HKUST has the edge in research productivity, where the
gap has widened in 2011."

Despite the troubled Japanese economy, its universities continue to
perform strongly. Tokyo and Kyoto each move up one place to 4th and 7th
respectively.

In Singapore, NUS retains its place in the top three and NTU consolidates
its strong 2010 performance, moving up one place to 17th.

Mainland China's universities perform strongly in the reputation
indicators, with Peking and Tsinghua both rated in the top seven by
academics, and third and fourth by employers.

Two more Indian universities make the top 50 than in 2010, with IIT
Kanpur (36) overtaking IIT Bombay, which drops two places to 38. Government
investment has increased research productivity, but low scores for citations
suggest Indian research is not yet as influential as that of other leading
Asian countries. Six out of seven Malaysian universities have improved on
their 2010 ranking, with UM rising three places to 39th and UPM up 20 places
to 57th.

The dynamism of the region is confirmed by the fact that 20% of the top
50 universities are less than 50 years old, including HKUST which has just
celebrated its twentieth anniversary.

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For more information or interview requests: Simona Bizzozero, Head of PR, +44(0)207-284-7248, +44(0)7880-620-856, simona at qs.com .