The 2023 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings published at the Asia Universities Summit showcases an uplift in global research impact by institutions in China, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.
This THE published map highlights average research citation (influence) scores changes. Between 2019 and 2023 the fastest improving nations were predominately within Asia.
The rise and influence, particularly of Asian universities in the THE world university rankings reflects a maturation of what it means to be international.
The lens of ‘international’ is being recalibrated. While transactional measures of activity such as international student numbers and staff profiles will remain important, the transformational impact (and value) of knowledge creation, sharing and influence across the globe is rising exponentially.
This is still a minutia of the broader methodology, however these activities, among others, reflect an influence from within Asian institutions;
- Increasing industry engagement and partnered exploratory research
- Diverse co-authorship and student WIL and internship experiences
- Shared commercialisation and industry income generation
- Cross border R&D collaboration
- PhD and post doc work embedded in international industry partnerships
- University and industry sharing of physical and intellectual resources
While rankings are a relatively blunt indicator at best, the value of the measure rises when coupled with these other metrics. These enlightened regional activities are perhaps cleaner indicators of international knowledge sharing and impact.
List of Asian institutions here
THE analysis here
Asia will play an increasing role in generating and disseminating new knowledge, with institutions ‘research influence’ rising exponentially in the Times Higher Education world rankings.
Nurturing this approach and generating a research ecosystem goes beyond rankings, these institutions understand the recruitment of international students and international staff profiles are inextricably linked to their advancement of research and innovation.
Photo credit: THE
