NUS and NTU are the top two universities in Asia

Both National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have managed to retain their places within the top 15 in the 2016 QS World University Rankings.

In a top 20 dominated by institutions from the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and Switzerland, the two Singaporean universities - ranked 12th and 13th respectively - were the only entries from Asia.

Among the Asian institutions, NUS and NTU took the top two spots while China continues to progress, with Tsinghua University (24th globally) rising to third place - its highest ever position.

The University of Hong Kong (27th globally) and The University of Tokyo (34th globally) took the fourth and fifth spots in Asia respectively.

Top 20 universities in Asia (country | global ranking)1. National University of Singapore (Singapore | 12th)2. Nanyang Technological University(Singapore | 13th)3. Tsinghua University (China | 24th)4. The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong | 27th)5.The University of Tokyo (Japan | 34th)6.Seoul National University (South Korea | 34th)7. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Hong Kong | 36th)8. Kyoto University (Japan | 37th)9. Peking University (China | 39th)10. Fudan University (China | 43rd)11. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) (Hong Kong | 44th)12. KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (South Korea | 46th)13. City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong | 55th)14. Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan | 56th)15. Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China | 61st)16. Osaka University (Japan | 63rd)17. National Taiwan University (NTU) (Taiwan | 68th)18. Tohoku University (Japan | 75th)19. Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH) (South Korea | 83rd)20. Korea University (South Korea | 98th)

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Globally, the rankings which included 916 universities from 81 countries saw Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from the US rated as the world's top university for the fifth year.

Stanford University (US), second (previously 3rd), and Stanford University (US), third (previously 2nd), followed closely behind. While University of Cambridge (UK) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (US) were ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

Top 20 universities globally (country)1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (US)2. Stanford University (US)3. Harvard University (US)4. University of Cambridge (UK)5. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (US)6. University of Oxford (UK)7. UCL (University College London) (UK)8. ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland)9. Imperial College London (UK)10.University of Chicago (US)11. Princeton University (US)12. National University of Singapore (NUS) (Singapore)13. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) (Singapore)14. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland)15. Yale University (US)16. Cornell University (US)17. Johns Hopkins University (US)18. University of Pennsylvania (US)19. The University of Edinburgh (UK)20. Columbia University (US)

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Ben Sowter, head of research at QS, said: “This year’s rankings imply that levels of investment are determining who progresses and who regresses. Institutions in countries that provide high levels of targeted funding, whether from endowments or from the public purse, are rising. On the other hand, some Western European nations making or proposing cuts to public research spending are losing ground to their US and Asian counterparts.”

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