European Press Room for Highly Talented People

11 June 2013

Asian universities set to dominate global rankings within two decades

London, 11 June 2013: Asian universities have gained significant ground on their Western counterparts and could overtake them within two decades, say the compilers of QS University Rankings: Asia, released today on www.topuniversities.com.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) tops the ranking, ahead of National University of Singapore (NUS) and Hong Kong University (HKU), which tie for second place. Korean institutions Seoul National University (4) and KAIST (7) and POSTECH (7=) all feature prominently, while China’s Peking University moves up one place to fifth, its highest ever position.

2013 QS University Rankings Asia: Top 10

2013	2012	Institution	Country Territory
1	1	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)	Hong Kong
2=	3	National University of Singapore (NUS)	Singapore
2=	2	University of Hong Kong (HKU)	Hong Kong
4	4	Seoul National University (SNU)	Korea
5	6	Peking University	China
6	7	KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology	Korea
7=	9	Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)	Korea
7=	5	The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)	Hong Kong
9	8	The University of Tokyo	Japan
10=	10	Kyoto University	Japan
10=	17	Nanyang Technological University (NTU)	Singapore

View Top 300: www.TopUniversities.com/AsiaRankings

“Asian higher education is undergoing a rapid transformation, and Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Korea are at the forefront of the assault on the global academic elite,” says Ben Sowter, head of QS Intelligence Unit, which also compiles the QS World University Rankings.

“There are already 17% more Asian universities in the global top 200 since the recession, and the next two decades could see leading US and European universities objectively overtaken.”

Asian universities featured in the global top 10 in 15 of the 30 disciplines covered in 2013 QS World University Rankings by Subject, published in May 2013. Nine of the top 20 institutions in civil engineering are Asian, compared to just five for the US and UK combined.

Now in their fifth edition, QS University Rankings: Asia also shows a five-year surge in international students studying at ranked institutions in the region, from 175,286 in 2009 to 255,212 this year. Total international faculty has grown from 21,223 to 35,677.

“As Western governments struggle to maintain funding levels, Asian institutions have rapidly increased their ability to attract the world’s best faculty and students,” says Sowter. “As the cost of studying rises in North America and the UK, Asia is reversing the brain drain by investing in scholarships to attract top students from the West.”

The rankings provide less encouraging news for Japan, which sees its top institution, University of Tokyo slip to ninth, its lowest ever position. Of the leading ten Japanese Universities, just one ranks higher than last year, while six rank lower.

The rapid speed of change in the region is on display in a complementary ranking, QS Top 50 under 50, which ranks universities established since 1963. Asia boasts five of the world’s top six young institutions, a forecast of a future realignment of the global balance of power from West to East.

2013 QS Top 50 UNDER 50 (Top 10)

Rank	2012 *WUR	2013 *WUR	Institution	Country Territory
1	33	40	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)	Hong Kong
2	47	58	Nanyang Technological University (NTU)	Singapore
3	58	50	The University of Warwick	UK
4	63	90	KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology	Korea
5	95=	110	City University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong
6	97	98	Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)	Korea
7	107	109	Maastricht University	Netherlands
8	155	148	University of California, Irvine (UCI)	USA
9	159	177	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong
10	163	153	Lancaster University	UK

View full results: http://topuniversities.com/top-50-under-50

*QS World University Rankings

The rigor and authority of this year’s QS University Rankings: Asia has been underlined by the official approval of its methodology and data collection processes from the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence (IREG) along with the QS WorldUniversity Rankings and QS UniversityRankings: Latin America.

The decision to award the IREG Approved” label has come at the end of a comprehensive independent audit, verifying that the rankings are compiled professionally and with a transparent methodology, observe good practices, and respond to a need for relevant information from a range of stakeholders, in particular students, higher education institutions, employers and policy makers.

The approval will last until 31 December 2016.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds

Since 1990, QS has become established as the world’s leading network for top careers and education. Producers of the QS World University Rankings®, QS’s innovative research, events, publications and university solutions provide new ways of bringing universities into contact with the best and brightest students worldwide.

QS World University Rankings ®

The QS World University Rankings is an annual league table of the top 700 universities in the world and is arguably the best-known and respected ranking of its kind. Compiled by the QS Intelligence Unit in close consultation with an international advisory board of leading academics, the QS World University Rankings ® is widely referenced by prospective and current students, university professionals and governments worldwide. The purpose of the rankings has been to recognize universities as the multi-faceted organizations they are and to provide a global comparison of their success against the notional mission of remaining or becoming world-class. The rankings are based on four key pillars, research, teaching, employability and internationalization.

For more information, please contact:

Simona Bizzozero simona@qs.com

Join the debate #QSWUR

30 May 2013

Get a head start in the business world with an accountancy degree

Accountants now run six out of 10 companies in the FTSE 100 according to a recent survey by specialist financial recruitment firm Marks Sattin.

The once dull subject of accountancy is fast becoming the way to get on in the world of business and there is no better place to start than doing a Warwick BSc Accounting & Finance degree, which allows you to do a year-long work placement.
When taking a BSc Accounting & Finance degree at Warwick Business School, part of the University of Warwick, students have the opportunity to add a placement year to work at an accountancy firm of their choice. Securing the placement themselves provides students with invaluable job search experience and Rebekah Ingham managed to gain a place at Ernst & Young – one of the world’s ‘big four’ accountancy firms.

“I wasn’t just thrown in at the deep end, I was thrown into the ocean!” says Ms Ingham, but she didn’t sink, she swam and has gained in confidence as a result.

Working with an accountancy firm not only gives students a head start in the graduate job market when a company looks at their CV, but helps them grow up and be ready for the work place.

Ms Ingham says a year working and living in London has made her realise just what being ‘professional’ is all about.

“I have sat and discussed accountancy with the CEO of a very big company,” says the 22 year-old, of Preston. “You mature on your placement and you see the difference when you come back to university. In the work place you have to be professional, it is not a conscious thing, it just happens over time. You learn how to talk to different people, how to talk to clients.

“I had to stand on my own two feet living in London with somebody I had never met before who was also on a placement. It was a big step but I loved it.

“I was unsure about a module in my final year. I was at work and I just called up the lecturer to ask for advice - I would never have done that before my placement!”

Amrit Mahbubani also had a placement at Ernst & Young. He has not only now secured a job with them, but he says the experience will help in his final year exams.

“The vast amount I have learnt will definitely come in useful in my final year at university,” says Mr Mahbubani. “Also, securing a graduate job will make my final year a lot less stressful!”

The 22 year-old, of Manchester, says that once he has finished his degree at Warwick Business School he will go on to gain the ACA – a worldwide leading qualification - while working at Ernst & Young to become a qualified chartered accountant.

“I have already got a great start towards a fantastic qualification,” says Mr Mahbubani. “The ACA has great potential to open a wide range of opportunities in all industries - once I’ve qualified!”

Warwick Business School, located in central England, is the largest department of the University of Warwick and the UK's fastest rising business school according the Financial Times. WBS is triple accredited by the leading global business education associations and was the first in the UK to attain this accreditation. Offering the full portfolio of business education courses, from undergraduate through to MBAs, and with a strong Doctoral Programme, WBS is the complete business school. Students at WBS currently number around 6,500, and come from 125 countries. Just under half of faculty are non-UK, or have worked abroad. WBS Dean, Professor Mark P Taylor, is among the most highly-cited scholars in the world and was previously Managing Director at BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager.

For more information contact:

Ashley Potter

Press & PR Officer

Warwick Business School

The University of Warwick

Coventry

CV4 7AL

Email: Ashley.potter@wbs.ac.uk

Twitter: @WarwickBSchool

Vita

Saskia-Marjanna Schulz was born at lake Constance. She attended her studies of chemistry and microbiology in Constance and Munich.

In 2000, she was awarded the LBS environmental price. She received the award for her research in the area of microbial ecology at the University of Constance. The graduate chemist is coauthor of the scientific book „Biotechnology for the environment“.

Schulz has long standing healthcare experience in marketing and sales. She worked as communications manager for a global corporation in the medical sector, her working experience focused on Germany, UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

After advanced training in the field of leadership, she became member of the group „Women in Leadership“ at a global player. She attended lectures of economy by Prof. Berens (University of Muenster) and Prof. Rapp (Cranfield University) and successfully completed a six-year long training to be a business coach.

Since 1999, Schulz coaches, gives trilingual talks and moderates in English, German and French – close to a native speaker. She publishes the "European Press Room for Highly Gifted People", the „Bodenseepresseportal“ and has worked as radio presenter for Swiss radio LoRa in Zurich. Her preferred topics are highly giftedness, trendscouting, music and nature.

In case of any comments or questions, please contact Saskia-Marjanna Schulz via her email: saskiamarjannaschulz@me.com.