Singapore has been placed in 9th position in a recent rankings table for national higher education systems. Universitas 21, an international network of universities, strengthened the city-state’s position by two places compared to last year.

Singapore is the first Asian country so far to enter into the Top 10.

The Universitas 21 report measures the investment, gender balance, international connectivity, and research output of 50 countries, and ranks them according to each country’s entire higher education system. As a comparison, the UK remains at 10th place for the second year running.

It has been noted from the report that Singapore is significantly increasing its research links. Local universities are seeking and recruiting some of the world’s top researchers to help develop Singapore into a research hub for the region - and is now even becoming well respected around the world.

In terms of its resources for tertiary education, Singapore is currently ranked in 8th place. This analysis has included government, total and per-student spending, as well as research and development expenditure. Singapore has also achieved 3rd place for connectivity, in terms of the number of international students and the number of global research collaborations.

However, the city-state loses out in terms of its output, where it has only achieved 18th place. Its output includes the number and excellence of completed research projects, as well as the number of researchers and students per head of population.

Professor Ross Williams, an author of the Universitas 21 report and a professorial fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, has noted that whilst Singapore has spent heavily into research and is attracting top academics, it will take time before its research output becomes apparent.

The rankings table also features the US at the top of the table overall, followed by Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and Denmark.