11 March 2011

THE National University of Singapore (NUS) has been ranked the 27th best in the world and third best in Asia by academics asked to pick the top universities in their disciplines.

A total of 13,388 experienced academics in 131 countries were asked to rate universities around the world according to how good they thought their research and teaching were.

The results, published on Thursday by Britain's Times Higher Education magazine, reveal that US institutions were most highly regarded, taking seven of the top 10 places.

Harvard University was first, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in second place. In total, 45 US universities made it to the global top 100.

Two British universities, Cambridge and Oxford, made it to the top 10 and a dozen more were in the top 100.

Japan's Tokyo University was the only Asian university to make it to the top 10, followed by Kyoto University, at 18th.