Role of science and technology in development of society

Vietnam’s university education moving up in international rankings . – Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

The trio include the Vietnam National University Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi), the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), and the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-Ho Chi Minh City).

In terms of the computer science category, VNU-Hanoi is ranked among the leading 501 to 600 establishments, approximately 200 places higher than HUST, which is ranked from 601 to 800, and VNU-Ho Chi Minh City, between 601 and 800.

In the engineering and technology category, VNU-Hanoi finds itself among the world’s best 401 to 500 institutions, while HUST is ranked between 501 and 600, with VNU-Ho Chi Minh City between 601 and 800.

In relation to physical sciences, VNU-Hanoi made it into the rankings from 601 to 800, while HUST and VNU-Ho Chi Minh City are among the leading 801 to 1,000 places.

In September, the three universities became the first in the nation to enter the general Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

This saw Vietnam National University-Hanoi named in the 801 to 1000 group for the fifth consecutive time, while the VNU-Ho Chi Minh City was put in the 1001+ group.

Furthermore, HUST dropped from the 801 to 1,000 group to the 1,001+ group out of a total of 1,527 universities.

The THE 2020 world university rankings are based on a total of 13 indicators such as teaching, research, knowledge transfer, revenue collected from business collaboration, and international outlook.

Typically, the method is slightly adjusted depending on subject, for the rankings by subject.

The website ranks universities worldwide based on the institutions’ academic research and reputation every year, allowing students to compare universities around the world and to find which best to suit them.

This year it has made a list of 1,500 universities of more than 85 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australia/New Zealand.

The Best Global University rankings evaluate nearly 40 subject areas, ranging from chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer science to agricultural sciences, social sciences and public health, oncology and surgery.

Honorably Ho Chi Minh City – based Ton Duc Thang university was ranked #623 worldwide and #123 in Asia. Notably, the university came in #260 in Engineering, its highest position globally so far.

Three other Vietnamese universities have also made the list, namely Hanoi-based National University (placed #949), Ho Chi Minh City-based National University (#1,271) and Hanoi-based University of Technology (1,356).

Previously, on August 5, 2020, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) also announced the ranking of the world’s best universities in 2020, and Ton Duc Thang University was the only Vietnamese university to make the list. The university was ranked in the Top 701-800 globally, an increase of at least 200 notches compared to the 2019 rankings.

This marks the second time that the Vietnam National University in Hanoi has made it into the world’s top 801 to 1,000, in addition to being the sole Vietnamese representative to make it into the top 1,000 of THE’s World University Rankings 2021.

Furthermore, the 1001+ list sees the inclusion of two other institutions from the nation, including the Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City.

The latest version of the World University Rankings includes more than 1,500 universities from across 93 countries and regions, therefore making them the largest and most diverse university rankings table to ever be published.

The results of the table are based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas, namely teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.

Leading the way in the rankings, the University of Oxford tops the list for the fifth consecutive year, followed by Stanford University, Harvard University, the California University of Technology, and Massachusetts University of Technology.

On the same day as the release of the Time’s rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), an education organisation based in the UK, announced that the Vietnam National University in Hanoi has been named in the top 801 to 1,000 universities globally, marking the third consecutive year the institute has received this recognition.

Moreover, the Vietnamese university has made it into the top 101 to 150 universities under 50 for 2021 by QS, which ranks the world’s best universities founded within the past 50 years.

The rankings place the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) at 158th place in Asia, the nation’s highest ranking university.

Elsewhere, the Vietnam National University – Hanoi came in 160th, while Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City was placed in 163rd.

Furthermore, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Duy Tan University in Da Nang City, Hue University in Thua Thien – Hue province in the Central region, Da Nang University, Can Tho University, Hanoi Pedagogy University, the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, and the University of Economy in HCMC made the “QS Top 500 2021” ranking.

Across the region, the National University of Singapore was ranked first in Asia, followed by Tsinghua University of China, Nanyang Technological University, Hong Kong University, and Zhejiang University.

Each of the universities have been ranked based on 11 criteria, including Academic Reputation, which makes up 30%, Employer Reputation, 20%, Faculty/student ratio, 10%, Staff with a PhD, 5%, Papers per faculty, 5%, and Citations per paper, 10%. This is in addition to International research network, 10%, 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%.