Top 10 Universities in Asia for Natural Sciences 2013

Discover the top 10 universities in Asia for natural sciences, as rated by academics. This list is based on QS’s global survey of academics, one part of the information used in creating the QS University Rankings: Asia.

1. University of Tokyo

The University of Tokyo is extremely difficult to beat in terms of its reputation among the academic community. In QS’s global survey of academics, it’s currently rated Asia’s best university not only for natural sciences, but also for life sciences, engineering & technology and arts & humanities. However, the QS University Rankings: Asia consider a further eight indicators – and once these are added into the mix, Tokyo comes out in 9^th place.

2. Kyoto University

Natural sciences are clearly a strong area for Japan, with Kyoto University close behind Tokyo in the academic survey – and another two Japanese universities also within the top 10. This appears to be Kyoto’s strongest subject field, based on academic reputation at least, though it’s also rated Asia’s third best for life sciences.

3. Peking University

China’s Peking University gets strong ratings from academics across all the subject areas, coming out at third overall for academic reputation in Asia. Overall in the QS University Rankings: Asia, Peking is currently in fifth place.

4. National University of Singapore (NUS)

NUS is another strong performer across the board, currently ranked 2= (joint with the University of Hong Kong) in the overall QS University Rankings: Asia. As well as having one of the strongest reputations of universities in Asia, it’s also among a group of Asian universities gaining increasing prominence at the international level.

5. Tsinghua University

Tsinghua is currently ranked 14^th in the overall QS University Rankings: Asia – but as its position here suggests, it would rank much higher if the ranking was based solely on reputation. It’s rated Asia’s 7^th best by academics, and 2^nd best by graduate employers (second to NUS).

6. Seoul National University (SNU)

Korea’s highest ranking university, Seoul National University maintains fourth position overall in this year’s QS University Rankings: Asia. It has a very strong academic reputation across the board, also rated within Asia’s top 10 for arts & humanities, social sciences & management, and life sciences & medicine.

7. University of Hong Kong (HKU)

The University of Hong Kong is in fact 2= in the overall QS University Rankings: Asia, sharing this position with NUS. It’s similarly strong across multiple subject areas, and overall is rated Asia’s 5^th best university by academics, and 7^th by employers.

8. National Taiwan University (NTU)

While Taiwan’s flagship public university does not appear in the overall QS University Rankings: Asia until 22^nd, it does score very well in the global survey of academics. National Taiwan University is rated within Asia’s top 10 not only for natural sciences, but also arts & humanities and life sciences & medicine – and is just outside the top 10 for engineering & technology.

9. Osaka University

Osaka University would also come out with a higher overall position if the QS University Rankings: Asia was based solely on academic reputation; it’s currently 15^th in the overall ranking, but 12^th in the academic survey. Osaka also has a very strong score for faculty-student ratio, just outside Asia’s top 10 on this measure.

10. Tokyo Institute of Technology

The fourth Japanese university within this top 10, Tokyo Institute of Technology has a strong reputation across the science and technology subjects on which it focuses. Its highest rating from surveyed academics is actually for engineering & technology, for which it is currently rated Asia’s 4^th best university.

About the QS University Rankings: Asia

Published annually since 2009, the QS University Rankings: Asia ranks the top 300 universities in Asia. The ranking is based on nine indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, research papers per faculty member, citations per paper, international diversity of faculty, international diversity of students, inbound student exchange and outbound student exchange.

Top 50 Universities in Asia for Natural Sciences

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