Lingnan University rises nearly 100 places to 257th in THE World University Rankings 2027 A historic high, and the largest leap among the Hong Kong SAR’s eight UGC-funded universities

Lingnan University has achieved outstanding results in the newly released Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2027. Among 2,297 institutions across 118 countries and regions, Lingnan made a remarkable leap from the 301–350 band to 257th, climbing nearly 100 places to show the highest improvement among the Hong Kong SAR’s eight UGC-funded universities. This demonstrates widespread international recognition of the University’s excellence in quality education, industry-academic-research collaboration, internationalisation, and the nurturing of research-oriented liberal arts talent in the digital era.

Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science at Lingnan University, welcomed the results, saying “Following our impressive debut in the THE World University Rankings last year, Lingnan has risen by nearly 100 places this year, reflecting the tangible achievements we have made in teaching, research and knowledge transfer in recent years. The number of patents granted to Lingnan scholars has increased by six times year on year in the 2025/26 academic year, while our success rate in securing funding from the Young Scientists Fund under the National Natural Science Foundation of China has more than doubled, rising from 20 per cent last year to 46 per cent this year. These two important indicators demonstrate Lingnan’s continually strengthening capabilities in research and innovation commercialisation. We shall continue to leverage the new momentum generated by ‘Liberal Arts + Technology’ and ‘AI+’ to extend our academic influence on the global stage.”

The THE World University Rankings are based on five core pillars of evaluation: teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry.

Lingnan has achieved remarkable success in international academic rankings in recent months. In the THE Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026, the University was ranked first for “SDG 4: Quality Education” for the second consecutive year, and in its debut in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings, it secured 84th place, breaking straight into Asia’s Top 100. In the QS World University Rankings 2027, Lingnan soared more than 120 places to 581st globally, its biggest jump in recent years. Lingnan also climbed 300 places in the ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities 2026, going from the 901st to 1,000th global band last year to the 601st to 700th band, marking the greatest advancement among the Hong Kong SAR’s eight UGC-funded universities.