Martin André Rosanoff, a Russian-American chemist visiting the great American inventor and businessman, Thomas Edison at his Laboratory, asked, “Mr. Edison, please tell me what laboratory rules you want me to observe.” Edison spat in the middle of the floor and yelled out, “hell, there are no rules here. We are tryin’ to accomplish somep’n!”
More universities in Asia are trying to do something. In fact, according to a new Reuters ranking, 75 of them are doing the most to advance science and invent new technologies. – See Top 75: Asia’s Most Innovative Universities
These institutions are moving beyond their traditional role of education into the innovation space. They are turning basic research into business applications.
The ranking covers the Asia-Pacific region and measures volume. Universities in the region have benefited significantly from an increase in government spending and improved policy environment. South East Asia and North East Asia’s R&D, in particular, are performing at least 10 percent higher that their peers for their level of GDP. For volume, the ranking measures the number of academic papers produced and patents filed by universities.
In the top 20, 17 are Japanese and Korean institutions. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) leads the pack. Ranked number 2 is Japan’s University of Tokyo. Outside Japan and Korea is the National University of Singapore, ranked 11th. China’s Tsinghua University (ranked 13th) and Peking University (ranked 16th).
Japan and Korea’s performance is not surprising. In the latest Global Innovation Index – which uses R&D investment (corporate and government) as primary measures – ranks Korea 11th in the world in global innovation. Japan is 16th and China appears at number 25.
Japan’s dominance, in particular, reflects a change in culture as more Japanese institutions and corporations adopt a “startup culture”. This shift is boosting business creativity and country’s economic prospects. Stanford Researcher, Kenji Kushida says Japanese social norms are shifting from being highly unfavourable to a tech startup culture toward one much more supportive. “We can see that over the past 15 years or so, changed to the overall Japanese political economic context as it undergoes gradual but substantive reform over the past couple of decades has created a far more vibrant startup ecosystem in Japan than most people.
Why are Chinese universities not performing as well as their competitors? One reason according to David Ewalt, contributor to Forbes Magazine, Chinese universities tend to submit less of their research to international patent authorities. “Universities outside of China are more likely to file patents in the United States and Europe as well as in their home country, indicating that those institutions are invested in protecting and commercializing their discoveries.”
Chinese universities also don’t spend as much time collaborating with private industry. “They publish relatively few journal articles in collaboration with industry co-authors, and are cited less often in articles published by corporate researchers,” said Ewalt.
The Chinese universities in the economically autonomous territory of Hong Kong are the exceptions with the Chinese University of Hong Kong (ranked 21) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (ranked 30).
Top 75: Asia’s Most Innovative Universities
Rank Name Location
1 Korea Advanced Institute of South Korea
Science & Technology (KAIST)
2 University of Tokyo Japan
3 Seoul National University South Korea
4 Osaka University Japan
5 Pohang University of Science South Korea
& Technology (POSTECH)
6 Tohoku University Japan
7 Kyoto University Japan
8 Sungkyunkwan University South Korea
9 Yonsei University South Korea
10 Keio University Japan
11 National University of Singapore
Singapore
12 Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
13 Tsinghua University China
14 Korea University South Korea
15 Hanyang University South Korea
16 Peking University China
17 Gwangju Institute of Science South Korea
& Technology
18 Kyushu University Japan
19 Nagoya University Japan
20 Hokkaido University Japan
21 Chinese University of Hong China
Kong
22 Ajou University South Korea
23 Zhejiang University China
24 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
25 Kyung Hee University South Korea
26 Hiroshima University Japan
27 University of Auckland New Zealand
28 University of Sydney Australia
29 University of Tsukuba Japan
30 Hong Kong University of China
Science & Technology
31 Tokyo Medical & Dental Japan
University
32 Monash University Australia
33 University of Queensland Australia
34 University of Melbourne Australia
35 Nanyang Technological Singapore
University
36 Fudan University China
37 Chonnam National University South Korea
38 Okayama University Japan
39 Shinshu University Japan
40 Kumamoto University Japan
41 Tianjin University China
42 Kanazawa University Japan
43 Ewha Womans University South Korea
44 Inha University South Korea
45 East China University of China
Science & Technology
46 Chiba University Japan
47 Beijing University of China
Chemical Technology
48 Waseda University Japan
49 South China University of China
Technology
50 Kyungpook National University South Korea
51 Chonbuk National University South Korea
52 University of New South Wales Australia
53 Catholic University of Korea South Korea
54 Pusan National University South Korea
55 Nanjing University China
56 University of Hong Kong China
57 Huazhong University of China
Science & Technology
58 Southeast University – China China
59 Konkuk University South Korea
60 Kobe University Japan
61 Dalian University of China
Technology
62 Nankai University China
63 Harbin Institute of China
Technology
64 Xian Jiaotong University China
65 Chung Ang University South Korea
66 Hong Kong Polytechnic China
University
67 Sichuan University China
68 Sun Yat-sen University China
69 Gyeongsang National University South Korea
70 Nihon University Japan
71 Indian Institute of India
Technology (IIT)
72 Indian Institute of Science India
(IISC) – Bangalore
73 Putra University Malaysia Malaysia
74 University of South Australia Australia
75 University of Malaya Malaysia
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