In calculating the top universities in Asia, the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2017 use the same 13 performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings, but they are recalibrated to reflect the attributes of Asia’s institutions.

The universities are judged across all of their core missions – teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook – to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available.

View the Asia University Rankings 2017 methodology

Singapore is home to the continent’s best university for the second year in row – the National University of Singapore – while Japan is the most-represented nation in the list for the first time in three years, boasting 69 universities.

Meanwhile, South Korea has a new number one institution: the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

There is also success for China, Hong Kong and India, all of which have made great gains in this year’s table. For example, India has doubled its representation, claiming 33 places in the list, up from 16 last year, while Hong Kong now has five institutions in the top 20, up from four.

But some other nations are struggling. Taiwan does not have any institutions in the top 20 of the ranking for the first time in the five-year history of the table, and all of Thailand’s seven established universities have dropped places.

And while Japan has strength in breadth, the majority of its universities have declined.

This year’s table ranks 300 institutions, up from 200 last year. These universities come from 24 countries, including Sri Lanka, Kuwait, and the Philippines for the first time.

The expansion of the table provides a glimpse of some of the lesser-known higher education hubs in the region and reveals the nations that are poised to become leading university countries in future years, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Read our full analysis of the Asia University Rankings 2017 results

Claim a copy of the Asia University Rankings 2017 digital supplement

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