HONG KONG – Japan and South Korea dominate the inaugural Reuters Top 75: Asia’s Most Innovative Universities, a list that identifies the educational institutions that are doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies, and help drive the global economy. Out of the top 20 universities, 17 are based in Japan and South Korea.  

Topping the list as the most innovative university in Asia is KAIST, also known as Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, which earned its first place rank by producing original and influential research. Organizations around the world cite KAIST’s patent portfolio as significant prior art in their own patent applications more than any other university in Asia – a strong indicator that the university has an outsized impact on global research and development.

The second most innovative university in Asia is Japan’s University of Tokyo. Established in 1877 as the nation’s first Imperial university, “Todai” now enrolls more than 28,000 students, and operates 13 university-wide centers and 11 affiliated research institutes.

The highest ranked school outside of Northeast Asia is the National University of Singapore (#11). China’s highest ranked university is Tsinghua University (#13), a public research university based in Beijing which has more than 45,000 students and its faculty includes eight Nobel laureates. Peking University (#16) is the only other Chinese university to crack the top 20. But overall, there are 22 Chinese universities on Reuters’ ranking – more than any other country. 

Top-ranked South Korea has a total of 20 schools on the list, Japan also has 20 ranked universities, Australia has six, Singapore, Malaysia, and India each have two, and New Zealand has one.

For more on Reuters Top 75: Asia’s Most Innovative Universities, including a detailed methodology and profiles of the universities, visit www.reuters.com/innovation

Reuters Top 75: Asia’s Most Innovative Universities

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