Korean Engineering Faculties Perform Well in Global Rankings

Korean universities performed well in engineering and technology, according to the 2015 World University Rankings by Subject by Quacquarelli Symonds on Tuesday.

The lists, which are published every April, rank universities by academic discipline, while the firm's rankings in September show universities' overall standing. This year, they highlight the top-performing universities in 36 disciplines.

Korean universities are most competitive in chemical engineering, with 10 Korean universities in the top 200.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was highest-ranked in 17th, followed by Seoul National University in 19th and Pohang University of Science and Technology (PSTECH) in 43rd.

Sungkyunkwan University jumped to 49th from the group of 51-100 last year and Hanyang University to the group 51-100 from the group 101-150.

In electrical and electronic engineering, eight Korean universities made it into the top 200, with KAIST ranking 22nd. In computer science and information systems engineering, seven Korean schools reached the top 200, with KAIST in 39th, SNU in 42nd, and Korea University, Sungkyunkwan, and POSTECH in the 51-100 group.

The rankings show Korean universities have made a great contribution to Korea becoming a "technology superpower," said Martin Ince of QS. But Korean universities performed poorly in future-oriented academic disciplines like earth and marine sciences, environmental sciences, and geography.

In environmental sciences, SNU plunged from 18th last year to the 51-100 group. In the humanities and social sciences, 29 Korean universities made it into the top 200. Eight of them were in business and seven each in accounting and finance, political science and international studies, and English literature.

In modern linguistics, 10 Korean universities joined the top 200 -- SNU (16th), Sungkyunkwan (20th), Korea University and Yonsei University (27th), the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (46th), Ewha Womans University, Hanyang, Kyunghee University, and Sogang University (group 101-150), and Dongguk University (group 151-200).

Overall, American and British universities led the pack. MIT ranked first with 11 disciplines, followed by Harvard with 10.

Other than that, the National University of Singapore ranked first with 11 disciplines. Next came the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (10 disciplines), the University of Tokyo in Japan (6), the Australian National University and the University of Hong Kong (4), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden (3).