Up two rungs to 48th spot in a ranking of the world's top 200 universities, NTU is the only university in Singapore to advance in this year's world-best league table. 

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has once again been ranked in the top quartile of the top 200 universities in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).

In the latest rankings, published on 28 October 2005, the 50-year-old university climbed to the 48th spot. Placed 26th among technology universities, NTU remains well within the upper echelons of the world's best science and tech universities.

Moving up the global league
Significantly, NTU was the only university in Singapore to advance in the Top 200 league table. 

The THES World University Rankings offers a systematic look at pre-eminent institutions of higher learning in the context of global tertiary education.

The annual rankings are based on criteria such as peer review, the university's ability to attract international faculty and students, faculty-to-student ratio, and citations per faculty member. This year's survey included a bigger poll of academics, more complete statistics, and the addition of a survey of global recruiters. 

Ahead of established names
In the THES list, NTU was within the top 25th percentile, in the same group as Harvard University, MIT, Cambridge University, and Oxford University, and ahead of institutions such as Bristol University (49th), Indian Institute of Technology (50th), Chinese University of Hong Kong (51st), King's College London (73rd), Warwick University (77th), and University of Western Australia (80th).

"While it's already an accomplishment for our young university to be ranked among the very best, what is more satisfying for me is that our ranking improved from last year's position," notes NTU President Dr Su Guaning. 

"And in the same survey of top technology universities, we jumped up to 26th, from 33rd last year."

Among top 30 technology universities
In the league of the "Top 50 in Technology", NTU outperformed well-known universities such as University of Toronto (31st), Cornell University (34th), University of California, Los Angeles (36th), and Princeton University (38th).

Its strong showing reflects its rising status as an internationally acclaimed technology university.

At NTU's 50th anniversary mega bash on 29 August 2005, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, drew attention to NTU's particular strengths when he remarked: "In science and engineering, NTU can be a top university in Asia, with niches where you are equal to the best anywhere in the world."

A magnet for international talent
Notably, NTU garnered impressive scores for international faculty (95/100) and international students (53/100) in the main rankings, bettering last year's ratings. On both criteria, NTU performed better than the top 10 universities in the world's top 200, including Harvard University and Stanford University.

"An international outlook and a global reputation among academics, students and employers are all important aspects of a university that ranks among the world elite," notes John O'Leary in the editorial of the 28 October report.

It is this strong international orientation that draws top students and academics from around the world, including Nobel Laureates, to our global campus village. 

Staying focused on excellence
NTU President Dr Su Guaning is pleased with NTU's improved showing in the league tables but notes that it is not the number that we are tagged to that is important.

"What I'd like to shout about is our focus on improving what will make a university great," he urges. "By keeping our sights set on delivering a holistic education to our students, and on our quality of teaching and research, we will surely succeed in our pursuit to be a global university of excellence."

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