“These exciting young universities are free from the burdens of history: free to be more agile, lean, flexible and risk-taking”

Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech) in South Korea remains in the first spot while national rival, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), is in third, and Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne is representing Europe in second position.

Speaking at the THE Young Universities Summit this week, Professor Steve Kang from KAIST shared with delegates aspects of KAIST’s approach to education, which ensures students have access to industry and can seek funding or support for ideas, encourages an active learning ethos, and of course ensures global interaction.

“We are quite serious about globalisation,” he said, citing 91 alliances in 31 countries.

Wendy Purcell, Vice-Chancellor of Plymouth University in the UK, which co-hosted the conference, coined the phrase “You don’t have to be old, you just have to be bold” to summarise the innovative appetite for ensuring excellent education that characterises all of the under-50 year old universities in the room.

THE, which came up with the Top 100 under 50 to profile younger universities that may not be otherwise reflected in its THE World University Rankings, observed that the list is a roadmap “that looks to the future by examining a new breed of global universities”.

Phil Baty, rankings editor, noted that the original rankings are dominated by older institutions, with many American universities in the top 10. “These exciting young universities are free from the burdens of history: free to be more agile, lean, flexible and risk-taking, giving them an advantage in a rapidly changing global marketplace; free to offer innovative teaching and focus their research on niche, high-impact areas”.

The top Asian nation in terms of numbers of institutions represented in the rankings is Taiwan, which has four representatives (down from five), led by the National Sun Yat-Sen University in 40th.

Despite losing an institution (the Chinese University of Hong Kong) as a consequence of age, Hong Kong still has three top 100 institutions – all of them 30 or under, and all in the top 30. Its best performer, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, retains fourth place.

1. Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech)  South Korea
2. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne  Switzerland
3. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) South Korea
4. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology  Hong Kong
5. Nanyang Technological University  Singapore
6. Maastricht University  Netherlands
7. University of California, Irvine  USA
8. Université Paris-Sud  France
9. Université Pierre et Marie Curie  France
10. Lancaster University  UK