Nine universities in Taiwan ranked among Asia’s top 100 universities in a listing by the UK newspaper the Times. However, they lagged far behind universities in Hong Kong, which took the majority of spots in the top five, the report showed yesterday.
National Taiwan University (NTU) had the best performance among the nine Taiwanese universities, coming in 22nd in the QS Asian University Rankings 2009, followed by National Tsing Hua University and National Cheng Kung University at 40th and 43rd, respectively.
The other six universities were National Yang Ming University at 47th, National Sun Yat-sen University at 71st, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology at 72nd, National Chiao Tung University at 74th, National Central University at 77th and Chang Gung University at 91st.
Universities in Hong Kong and Japan generally ranked better than universities in other countries, with University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology taking first, second and fourth place in the rankings.
Japan’s University of Tokyo, Kyoto University and Osaka University ranked third, fifth and sixth, respectively.
NTU spokesman Sebastian Liao (廖咸浩) said the Times’ rankings focused on universities’ reputation, but sthe NTU cared more about the evaluation by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT) because they were “more objective.”
“NTU always ranks first among universities in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China in the university rankings by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the rankings by the HEEACT,” Liao said.
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