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Latest ranking: Top 20 universities in Asia

In Quacquarelli Symonds’ (QS) World University Rankings® 2020, four of Malaysia's public universities have improved their rankings as compared to 2019.

Among the Asian universities in the ranking, Universiti Malaya (UM) came in 18th (70th globally), moving up two places from 22nd (87th globally) in the 2019 rankings.

In 33rd and 34th place were Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) (159th globally) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) (160th globally), moving up by seven places and three places respectively. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) came in 36th (165th globally), compared with 41st in the 2019 rankings.

Over the causeway in Singapore, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) moved up one position to be tied with National University of Singapore (NUS) - 1st in Asia, 11th globally.

Top 20 universities in Asia

#1 Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Country: Singapore2019 Asia rank: 22020 global rank: 112019 global rank: 12

#2 National University of Singapore (NUS) Country: Singapore2019 Asia rank: 12020 global rank: 112019 global rank: 11

#3 Tsinghua UniversityCountry: China2019 Asia rank: 32020 global rank: 162019 global rank: 17

#4 Peking UniversityCountry: China2019 Asia rank: 62020 global rank: 222019 global rank: 30

#5 The University of TokyoCountry: Japan2019 Asia rank: 42020 global rank: 222019 global rank: 23

#6 The University of Hong KongCountry: Hong Kong2019 Asia rank: 52020 global rank: 252019 global rank: 25

#7 The Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyCountry: Hong Kong2019 Asia rank: 92020 global rank: 322019 global rank: 37

#8 Kyoto UniversityCountry: Japan2019 Asia rank: 72020 global rank: 332019 global rank: 35

#9 Seoul National UniversityCountry: South Korea2019 Asia rank: 82020 global rank: 372019 global rank: 36

#10 Fudan UniversityCountry: China2019 Asia rank: 112020 global rank: 402019 global rank: 44

#11 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & TechnologyCountry: South Korea2019 Asia rank: 102020 global rank: 412019 global rank: 40

#12 The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)Country: Hong Kong2019 Asia rank: 122020 global rank: 462019 global rank: 49

#13 City University of Hong KongCountry: Hong Kong2019 Asia rank: 132020 global rank: 522019 global rank: 55

#14 Zhejiang UniversityCountry: China2019 Asia rank: 172020 global rank: 542019 global rank: 68

#15 Tokyo Institute of TechnologyCountry: Japan2019 Asia rank: 142020 global rank: 582019 global rank: 58

#16 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityCountry: China2019 Asia rank: 152020 global rank: 602019 global rank: 59

#17 National Taiwan University (NTU)Country: Taiwan2019 Asia rank: 182020 global rank: 692019 global rank: 72

#18 Universiti Malaya (UM)Country: Malaysia2019 Asia rank: 222020 global rank: 702019 global rank: 87

#19 Osaka UniversityCountry: Japan2019 Asia rank: 162020 global rank: 712019 global rank: 67

#20 Tohoku UniversityCountry: Japan2019 Asia rank: 192020 global rank: 822019 global rank: 77

Globally, the top 10 ranks were dominated by universities from the United States and the United Kingdom, with Switzerland's ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) also making an appearance.

In the top three places were Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and Harvard University, all from the United States.

Rounding up the top five were the United Kingdom's University of Oxford, as well as the United State's California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

The top 10 universities in the world

#1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  Country: United States2020 rank: 12019 rank: 1

#2 Stanford University  Country: United States2020 rank: 22019 rank: 2

#3 Harvard University  Country: United States2020 rank: 32019 rank: 3

#4 University of Oxford  Country: United Kingdom2020 rank: 42019 rank: 5

#5 California Institute of Technology (Caltech)  Country: United States2020 rank: 52019 rank: 4

#6 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)  Country: Switzerland2020 rank: 62019 rank: 7

#7 University of Cambridge  Country: United Kingdom2020 rank: 72019 rank: 6

#8 UCL (University College London)  Country: United Kingdom2020 rank: 82019 rank: 10

#9 Imperial College London  Country: United Kingdom2020 rank: 92019 rank: 8

#10 University of Chicago  Country: United States2020 rank: 102019 rank: 9

Photo / 123RF

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