EduAsiaNews, Seoul — Two of South Korea’s leading universities have recorded declining positions in the latest Nature Index, a prestigious benchmark that tracks publications in the world’s top scientific journals.
The latest index, compiled by academic publisher Springer Nature, placed Seoul National University 59th worldwide and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 84th among research institutions. In the previous tables released in June last year, the two schools ranked 52nd and 82nd, respectively. Uppsala University Other Korean universities appearing in the global list included Yonsei University at 144th, Sungkyunkwan University at 159th, and POSTECH at 166th.
The decline comes amid increasingly strong dominance by Chinese research institutions. The Chinese Academy of Sciences holds the top global position, followed by Harvard University — with the remaining nine spots in the top ten occupied entirely by Chinese research organizations or universities.
In terms of country rankings, South Korea holds 7th place globally. Korea performs strongest in the physical sciences, where the country ranks fourth globally, and seventh in chemistry. Mit
The slide has sparked debate among Korean academics about the need for greater long-term investment in research to maintain the country’s competitiveness on the global science stage. (**)
(Source: The Korea Herald)
