Line from seven lamps, one lamp shines, 3D.
Reuters has released its second annual ranking of the Asia Pacific region’s Most Innovative Universities. The list identifies and ranks institutes based on their contribution in the invention of new technologies and advancement of science as a whole.
The ranking was a collaborative effort of Reuters and its former analytics wing, Clarivate. 600 institutes and organizations were identified and were shortlisted to 150. Number of patents filed, which were listed in the Derwent World Patents Index and Innovations Index between 2010 and 2015, along with patent equivalents, patent citations, article citations and their impact was considered.
Scores from 10 categories was summed up to achieve the final rankings.
The list is topped by Chinese and South Korean universities. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), one of the oldest research oriented science and engineering institutes in South Korea, took the top spot. It produces a huge volume of influential inventions and submitted more patents than 74 outs of the 75 ranked universities. Even outside researchers often cited patents and research papers from KAIST.
Amongst the top university’s highlight researches is the development of a parasite robot that can control the movements of its living host. Its Humanoid Robot Research Center won the U.S. Department of Defense’s DARPA Robotics Challenge with an adaptable humanoid robot.
The second, fourth and fifth ranked universities are also from South Korea. Eight out of the top 20 are from the country, far more than what one would expect from a small country.
China has the most number of innovative universities in the region – 25 out of 75. It is followed by South Korea with 22, Japan with 19, Australia with five and Singapore with two. The remaining two, which made the list, are from New Zealand and India.
Even Reuters found it odd that there were no universities from Indonesia, Pakistan or Bangladesh, three of the most populous countries in the region after China and India. None of the institutes in any of the Muslim countries in the whole of Asia Pacific region made the cut which is a clear indication of the lack of focus on education and technology.
The complete list of universities is available here.