National Taiwan University’s (NTU) global ranking slid from No. 195 to No. 198 in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings, its lowest in 14 years.
NTU’s flagging scientific research and academic impact last year contributed to its demotion, Times Higher Education said. It has shed 83 places since 2010.
National Tsinghua University also dropped, losing its spot among the best 300 institutes and falling to the top 350 list, Times Higher Education said.
The declines are the result of stagnation at a time when other institutions are forging ahead, NTU Office of Research and Development dean of Lee Fang-jen (李芳仁) said.
The dependability of a nation’s support for higher education and its retention of gifted students are important factors when it comes to international competitiveness, Lee said.
Thanks to its large pool of talent and generous funding, China’s universities are rising in international stature, he said.
In contrast, funding for Taiwanese universities has either stayed the same or fallen, Lee said, adding that the lagging competitiveness is exacerbated by the dilution of money and talented students.
Those issues are problematic to Taiwanese universities’ ability to compete globally, as well as their efforts to retain students in research-related fields and prevent losing them to institutes abroad, he said.
“Improving the quality of instruction without growth in graduate student enrollment will not increase universities’ capacity for research,” Lee said.
In addition to funding and talent, universities need to form a virtuous cycle by creating a better academic environment that attracts young, talented people into research work, he said.
“Ideally, the best and brightest should be concentrated at few universities to form peer groups that are driven by internal competition to do better research. Thinning out gifted students lead to complacency,” he said.
“Talent is the foundation of international academic competitiveness,” he said.
“An unstable foundation disrupts research training continuity. Unless talented students are convinced to remain in research fields and in Taiwan, universities will not be able to deal with the obstacles,” Lee said.
Elsewhere in the rankings, National Chiao Tung University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology made the top 500, while China Medical University, National Chung Kung University and National Taiwan Normal University were in the top 600.
Chang Gong University, Kaohsiung Medical University, National Central University, National Sun Yat-sen University, National Yang Ming University and Taipei Medical University were among those ranked from 600 to 800.
National Dong Hwa University, National University of Tainan and National Taipei University entered the rankings for the first time, although they placed below the first 800.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
RSS