2025.06.19

In the 2026 QS World University Rankings, NTHU is ranked 176th in the world.

In the 2026 QS World University Rankings, published on June 19 in the UK, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan was ranked 176th in the world, an improvement of 34 places in comparison to last year. Among the various criteria, NTHU improved the most in Citations per Faculty, indicating a surge of research momentum. NTHU's highest score was for Employer Reputation, ranking 116th in the world.

In Citations per Faculty, NTHU jumped from 268th in the previous QS rankings to 187th, a full 81 places higher. According to QS statistics, NTHU's average number of Citations per Faculty increased from 99.5 in 2015 to 175.3 in 2025, an increase of 76%.

According to NTHU's Center for Institutional Research (CIR), the percentage of papers by NTHU faculty published in the top 1% of journals increased from 4.2% in 2019 to 4.5% in 2023; and the percentage of NTHU papers amongst the 1% cited most often increased to 2.3% in 2023---the highest in Taiwan in both cases.

NTHU president W. John Kao (高為元) said that the significant jump in the rankings this year demonstrates an overall improvement in research quality, internationalization, and global reputation; it also reflects the university's people-oriented approach in which every teacher and student is supported in realizing their highest potential.

Kao said that the establishment of the Talent Development Fund Academic Research Award in 2022 has played a key role in enhancing research momentum. This fund provides various awards and grants for faculty who publish papers in top international journals, make major research breakthroughs, rank high in international academic indicators, and participate in international projects. Awards provided by the Fund for faculty engaged in influential research include the NTHU Distinguished Talent Chair and the NTHU Distinguished Young Scholar Award.

Vice President for Research and Development Po-Wen Chiu (邱博文) said that in order to improve research quality and international competitiveness, the school has been investing in new lab equipment and supporting cutting-edge research and large team projects.

In terms of internationalization and industry-university cooperation, NTHU has established 12 large joint R&D centers, connecting top international academic institutions with business enterprises and leading to breakthroughs in areas such as semiconductors, high-entropy alloys, quantum communications, and brain science. Chiu said that the average citation rate of papers produced by international teams and through industry-university cooperation is three to four times that of other papers. These types of papers are thus a key factor in boosting the university's citation count.

In the latest QS ranking, a total of eight universities in Taiwan are among the top 500 in the world. NTHU is ranked number two in Taiwan, second only to National Taiwan University (NTU). The others are National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), National Taipei University of Science and Technology (NTUT), National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), and National Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), respectively.

The top ten universities in the world in the 2026 QS rankings are: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, Stanford University, University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, National University of Singapore, University College London, and the California Institute of Technology.

The criteria used in the QS rankings include Academic Reputation, Citations per Faculty member, Employer Reputation, International Faculty Ratio, International Student Ratio, International Research Network, Faculty-student Ratio, and Sustainability.

NTHU researchers have made major breakthroughs in areas such as quantum computing and quantum communications.

Under the leadership of distinguished Chair Professor Jien-Wei Yeh (葉均蔚), research in high-entropy alloys is now being conducted at NTHU.