Explore the World University Rankings 2027 results

With Asian universities now on the brink of the highest reaches of the ����Vlog World University Rankings, what would it take for them to break into the top 10?

��󾱲Բ�’s Tsinghua University is closest to making the leap in the 2027 university rankings results, climbing to 11th, up one place on last year and leapfrogging ETH Zurich in the process. Peking University has held on to 13th place for the third consecutive year and is hot on the Swiss institution’s heels.

The steady rise to prominence of Asian universities might best be understood against the political and economic backdrop of anglophone countries, suggested Philip Altbach, emeritus professor and founder of the Center for International ����Vlog at Boston College.

Altbach argued that in the US, “political interference” is disrupting “scientific excellence and its academic system”, while in the UK and Australia, “there are severe budgetary problems”.

����Vlog

Meanwhile China is investing “boatloads of money” in its universities, Altbach said, which is helping to lure Chinese academics who built careers overseas back to native soil.

So what do the numbers say about when or how a Chinese university could make the top 10? Tsinghua and Peking both scored highly in the teaching and research pillars – and achieved first place scores of 100 for the industry pillar – often equal to or above equivalent pillar scores of the top 10 universities. However, both institutions fall short on international outlook with scores that come well behind those of their top 10 rivals. Tsinghua’s international score is 60.6 and Peking fared slightly better with 67.8.

����Vlog

A university’s international score is determined by assessing three metrics: international students, international staff and international co-authorship. It is the last that continues to pose a major challenge for Tsinghua and Peking, as they obtained only 25.0 and 25.5 out of 100 respectively for international co-authorship.

International metric scores: Tsinghua and Peking versus Top 10 institutions, 2027

Having crunched the numbers, analysis from our data team shows that, if Tsinghua improved its international pillar score from 60.6 to 80, it would sit comfortably in 8th place. But improving its co-authorship score would be key. According to Sam Armenta Butt, a senior data scientist at THE, “For Tsinghua, even if international co-authorship were improved to around 75 – modest for institutions at this end of the ranking, it would put it 8th or 9th in the ranking.” Similarly, Peking would need to increase its international co-authorship score by about 50 points to achieve a pillar score of 80, allowing it to overtake ETH in the ranking.

It is unclear how quickly China will advance on this metric, having identified achieving self-sufficiency in research as a priority, and while geopolitical tensions with the US and other countries hamper cross-border collaboration.

However, China has shown that it does not regard international collaborations as running counter to its self-sufficiency drive, inviting foreign science and engineering universities to offer programmes and set up institutes within the country as part of a plan to cultivate talent domestically.

����Vlog

China has also set out an ambition to drive significant growth in international student numbers, although in recent years it has subtly shifted its focus from purely increasing recruitment towards attracting a higher quality of overseas learner.

Futao Huang, professor at the Research Institute for ����Vlog at Hiroshima University, argued that Chinese universities were being selective about internationalisation.

“Chinese universities still regard international engagement as important, but they have become more cautious and selective in recent years…At the same time, universities are placing greater emphasis on national priorities and on cooperation in strategically important fields.”

It remains to be seen whether this approach will finally earn China a place at the top of the table.

����Vlog

rosalind.skillen@timeshighereducation.com

Find out how your university ranked in the World University Rankings 2027