Ajou News

NEW Ajou University Named 10th Best Korean University in the THE Asia University Rankings 2022 After a 5-Year Upward Climb

  • 2023-02-20
  • 2435

The Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings 2022 ranked Ajou University 113th, equivalent to 10th among Korean universities only.


THE is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Like Quacquarelli Symonds, it assesses and ranks every university in the world every year. The THE Asia University Rankings 2022 covered 829 universities in Asia.


Ajou University has been consistently working its way up in the THE Asia University Rankings over the last 5 years, this year weighing in at 113th—a jump of 17 places from last year's 130th.


Using 13 indicators in the 5 assessment areas of Teaching, Research, Citations, Industry Income, and International Diversity, THE named Asia's top 500 universities. This year, Ajou University fared much better in Industry Income (71.7→77.8) and International Diversity (33.5→38.1). 


Ajou University has been making consistent achievements in revenue from industrial-academic cooperation on the strength of the research capability of its faculties and the university-wide support it provides to that end. In 2021, Ajou University brought in KRW 5.21 billion in technology transfer revenue, marking a continuing increase over the past 6 years. Technology transfer revenue in excess of KRW 5.2 billion makes Ajou University Korea's fifth top performer in that respect. Technology transfer revenue occurs when a company seeking to utilize a faculty’s R&D achievement makes an intellectual property rights payment to the university. 


In the category of International Diversity, Ajou University's higher ranking this year came from its programs and policies attracting foreign students with high academic merit and promoting global joint studies. To encourage promising foreign students to attend Ajou University and help them settle in once they arrive, Ajou University provides learning and living support programs and scholarships. Ajou University runs an organization to facilitate global joint research (global partnerships) for its faculty and provides funding for global joint studies that is larger and more widely available.


The THE Asia University Rankings 2022 named Tsinghua University of China in the No. 1 spot, followed by Peking University, the National University of Singapore, the University of Hong Kong, and Nanyang Technological University, who took second to fifth spot, respectively. The top-ranked Korean universities are Seoul National University (8th), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (14th), Sungkyunkwan University (18th), and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (20th).