KU’s ranking jumps to 17th in Asia according to the 2016 Times UK University Ranking

According to the 2016 THE Asia University Rankings released by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings on June 21, KU is ranked 17th, nine places higher than last year.

Universities were evaluated based on 13 indicators in five areas, including teaching, international outlook, research, citations, and industry income. Among major Korean universities, KU was the only school whose scores rose in all five areas.

1) 2016 THE Asia University Rankings (2013-2016)

2) Analysis of Detailed Results by Category

  A. Teaching
KU, founded in 1905 with the goal of saving the country through education, regards the value of education as its top priority. The score of KU in the teaching area rose by 1.5 points compared to last year, placing the school in fourth place in Korea. Through the introduction of the need-based and program-based scholarship systems and the implementation of the flexible semester system, KU plans to improve its educational environment and competitiveness in the future.   

  B. International Outlook
Based on the successful establishment of the International Summer Campus and the KU-China Global Leadership Program, KU maintained its leading position in the area of international outlook and also showed the highest growth rate from last year among Korean universities. KU proposes a new model of internationalization. Through the KU-Latin Program and exchanges with small, but strong countries, such as Norway and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg), KU will continue upgrade its level of internationalization.

  C. Research
KU has committed to strengthening its research capacity in numerous ways, such as creating the Executive Vice President for Research position. In addition, the KU-KIST Graduate School, which was launched in 2013, has attracted attention as an innovative university-research institute collaboration model. KU boasts the best research capacity in the country, as represented by being the nation’s only institution with two state-designated research hospitals. Through the KU-MAGIC Project that brings KU to the center of biomedical research, such as research on medical devices and smart aging, KU will solidify its place as a top research university in the future.

  D. Citations
Through the efforts of enthusiastic research masters and junior researchers armed with exceptional abilities, KU produces quality research papers. KU plans to actively support more future-oriented research through the FRG system. Many researchers will use this system, and the quality of papers will continue to improve.

  E. Industry Income
KU strives to develop a new industry-university-research institute cooperation model in order to create real profits. KU has proved that it has top-tier capabilities to monetize new technologies, such as the patent transfer of the 3D Environmental Scanner. In addition, KU established the Office of Research Planning as a control tower for industry-university cooperation. The π-Ville program that will begin this fall is a new industry-university research model sponsored by corporations, where faculty members and students will be able to develop creative ideas together.