Fri, Sep 08, 2017 page4

• NTU ranking falls to 14-year low

  PEER PRESSURE: The nation’s brightest should be concentrated at a few universities to foster competition among peers and encourage better research, an NTU dean said

  • By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA
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  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.
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