City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has shot up the rankings of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions in the fields of social science and technology, according to the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).

CityU jumped 40 places to 53rd this year in the world’s top social science universities, and five places to 85th in the world’s top technology institutions.

The rankings once again confirm that CityU has attained international recognition as an outstanding university in the region. In October this year, THES released rankings of the world’s top 200 universities, in which CityU was ranked 154th, compared to 178th last year.

“The recognition once again reflects the top quality of CityU’s teaching and research,” said Professor H K Chang, University President. “We are glad to see that our progress is being internationally recognized.”

Professor Martin Painter, Acting Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHS), said the leap up the rankings was a great achievement for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and CityU.

“We are now firmly established on the world scene as well as in Hong Kong as a leading University in the social sciences. This is the result of a lot of hard work from staff members in the Faculty and reflects well on the quality of our students and their academic achievements,” Professor Painter said.

Professor Chan Chi-hou, Dean of Faculty of Science and Engineering, said, “This is a boost for us to have our excellence in teaching and research recognized again by the THES. We are encouraged by the fact the rankings reflect that we have been making steady progress.”

The THES rankings on top 200 universities are based on the results of a survey of more than 3,703 academics, using peer review (40%), graduate employability (10%), an international outlook (10%), teaching quality (20%) and research quality (20%) as the criteria.