Posted by Phil Baty 18 March 2013
Times Higher Education has announced an important new addition to its portfolio of prestigious international university rankings.
On 10 April 2013, the magazine will publish the first ever Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings - a new list based on the same trusted and comprehensive range of performance indicators as the established THE World University Rankings.
Phil Baty, Times Higher Education's rankings editor, said: "Asia is the most exciting continent on Earth in higher education terms. As well as needing to absorb huge numbers of additional learners, many Asian countries recognise the central role world-class research plays in driving the knowledge economy - and are spending accordingly.
"Contrast this with the West, where austerity is leading to public disinvestment in higher education and research.
"The THE World University Rankings has rapidly become established as the most widely quoted and highly regarded global benchmark of university performance. With such an important resource comes increasing demand for more - more data, more nuance and more context - as a wider range of users, from governments and university leaders down to would-be students, turn to the rankings for input.
"The THE Asia University Rankings will help meet this demand."
The Asia University Rankings will be published online at 21.00 (BST or GMT+1) on Wednesday 10 April (04:00hrs HKT on Thursday 11 April), and in a free special supplement with THE magazine on 11 April.
The rankings will list the top institutions across the Asian continent - including Turkey and the Middle East.
Mr Baty said: "Asia has 57 institutions in the overall top 400 World University Rankings but many more of its universities aspire to join the world's research-intensive elite and want to benchmark their progress. So the Asia-only table will go deeper and gives more data on more of the continent's institutions than the overall rankings."
Each October, THE publishes the overall World University Rankings based on 13 indicators covering the full range of a world-class university's missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
The Asia University Rankings will join a growing portfolio which also includes the World Reputation Rankings, published each March, and the THE 100 Under 50 ranking of institutions under the age of 50.
For commercial enquires email matthew.clancy@timeshighereducation.co.uk or lucy.reddin@timeshighereducation.co.uk
For editorial enquiries email rankings@timeshighereducation.co.uk
