The Times Higher Education (THE) and Schmidt Science Fellows released the "Interdisciplinary Science Rankings 2026," showing Hong Kong's strong performance with five universities in the global top 70 and City University of Hong Kong (CityU) ranked 11th.
CityU has risen 14 places to rank 11th globally, becoming the top university in Hong Kong and third in Asia, marking a historic achievement. It also ranked first worldwide in the "Inputs" category among the three pillars of the rankings, reflecting its strong support for interdisciplinary research.
The interdisciplinary science ranking, introduced by THE last year, assesses 911 universities across three dimensions—inputs, process and output—using 11 metrics including research funding, administrative support, reputation and so on.
The United States' institutions excelled, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and California Institute of Technology in the top three spots.
Seven of the top ten institutions are also located in the United States.
In Asia, Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore ranked fifth and eighth, while CityU was 3rd in the region and 11th overall.
The University of Hong Kong ranked 32nd, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University ranked 46th, Hong Kong Baptist University ranked 52nd and the Chinese University of Hong Kong ranked 69th.
Overall, Hong Kong universities averaged 71.3 out of 100, the highest among regions with five or more ranked institutions.
A spokesperson from THE attributed CityU's rise to its strong funding for interdisciplinary research and dedicated resource management.
President of CityU Freddy Boey Yin-chiang stressed the university's commitment to fostering partnerships among diverse scientific disciplines and facilitating interaction between industry, academic researchers and investors.
"CityUHK's historic top position in Hong Kong in these Interdisciplinary Science Rankings validates our unwavering ambition to become a world-class institution," he said. "We will continue to lead global higher education by promoting cross-regional and interdisciplinary academic and research efforts to nurture outstanding talent and drive breakthrough discoveries."
Notably, top universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Peking University, and Tsinghua University did not appear in the ranking, likely due to their decision not to submit data for evaluation.
