Tsinghua University may soon top the world league in science research
In China, its rapid rise is not unique
TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY was born out of national humiliation. It was founded in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion—an anti-foreign uprising in 1900—and paid for with the reparations exacted from China by America. Now Tsinghua is a major source of Chinese pride as it contends for accolades for research in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). In 2013-16 it produced more of the top 1% most highly cited papers in maths and computing, and more of the 10% most highly cited papers in STEM, than any other university in the world, reckons Simon Marginson of Oxford University (see chart). The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) still leads in the top 1% of STEM papers, but Mr Marginson says Tsinghua is on track to be “number one in five years or less”.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline "Looking to beat the world"
From the November 17th 2018 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from China
How Chinese networks clean dirty money on a vast scale
These shadowy “banks” are becoming the financiers of choice for transnational criminal gangs
The dark side of growing old
A coming wave of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia will test China to its limits
Examining the fluff that frustrates northern China
An effort to improve the environment has had unintended consequences