KU ranks No. 1 in the 2020 QS Asia University Rankings 

among private universities in Asia

Takes 12th spot among Asian universities, surpassing the university of Tokyo, and sits atop the rankings among private comprehensive universities in Korea for the fourth consecutive year

Ranks highest in the international research network indicator among Korean universities

According to the 2020 QS Asia University Rankings recently released by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), a world-renowned university rating agency in the UK, Korea University has retained its 12th place among Asian universities and its place at the top of private universities in Asia.

For the fourth consecutive year, KU has taken the top spot among private comprehensive universities in Korea, which confirms its position as the nation’s most representative private university. In contrast with other major Korean universities that dropped in the rankings, KU continued to maintain its strong position in international assessments.

Furthermore, KU took the top spot in the International Research Network (IRN) indicator ranking among Korean universities, showing how KU has been proactively conducting collaborative research with prestigious overseas universities. KU firmly retained its positions in Employer Reputation (12th) and Research Reputation (18th), outstanding results.

From among 550 universities (50 universities were added to the pool this year), a total of 17 Korean universities made it to the top 100. The National University of Singapore was ranked first, and Seoul National University came in at 11th place, followed by KU at 12th place, enabling it to stand side by side with other prestigious universities in Asia.

Published annually since 2009, the QS Asia University Rankings, exclusive to the Asian region, are based on a total of 11 distinctive indicators, including the newly introduced IRN indicator. The indicators used to compute the QS Asian University Rankings are as following: academic reputation (30%), employer reputation (20%), faculty/student ratio (10%), international research network (10%), citations per paper (10%), papers per faculty (5%), staff with a PhD (5%), proportion of international faculty (2.5%), proportion of international students (2.5%), proportion of inbound exchange students (2.5%), and proportion of outbound exchange students (2.5%). Unlike the QS World University Rankings that rely on six indicators, the QS Asia University Rankings are complied with additional indicators, making it a more sophisticated assessment.

KU strives to construct a research ecosystem where creativity and innovation can be incubated together in a stable research environment. According to its recent 2019 Global Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list, Clarivate Analytics recognized seven KU professors as influential scientific researchers for the second consecutive year, placing KU atop the HCR list rankings with the most influential researchers among private universities in Korea.