PNU Breaks Into QS Top 400, Leads National Universities

Pusan National University (PNU), which had been struggling with low rankings in the QS World University Rankings, entered the top 400 in 2025, securing the top spot among national universities. Support measures aimed at improving the number of paper citations, a longstanding challenge, appear to have yielded results, leading to a rebound for the third consecutive year.

According to a comprehensive report by “Channel PNU” on August 29th, 2025, the rankings released by university evaluation agency Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on June 19th show PNU ranked in the 601-650 range in 2023, 524th in 2024, and 473rd in 2025, marking three consecutive years of upward movement in ranking.

QS, recognized alongside ARWU and THE as one of the world’s top three university ranking agencies, determines a university’s international recognition and competitiveness. A higher ranking helps universities attract international students and faculty, expand international research networks, and foster industry-academic collaborations with overseas companies. QS calculates its rankings based on nine indicators: Academic reputation (30%) Research citations (20%), Employer reputation (15%), Graduate employability (5%), among nine total indicators.

PNU attributes this improved QS ranking primarily to increases in paper citations and academic reputation. Paper citations surged by 88.2%, from 19.5 points in 2024 to 36.7 points in 2025. Similarly, academic reputation surged by approximately 52.9%, climbing from 18.7 points in 2024 to 28.6 points in 2025. These academic reputation scores and rankings are based on surveys of researchers worldwide evaluating top universities. Regarding this, the Evaluation Team of Division of Planning and Evaluation stated, “Ongoing international joint research support projects and the expansion of international networks, such as the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), contributed to academic reputation scores.”

PNU has long faced low paper citation counts. According to 2023 data from the Office of Research Affairs, the annual citation counts for PNU’s papers indexed in major academic databases were only 60% of the average for the top four universities in the Seoul metropolitan area as reported by “Channel PNU” on March 31st, 2023. Consequently, in THE’s “World University Rankings” for both 2023 and 2024, the citation count—a sub-category of the paper citation indicator—failed to reach half the average score, significantly impacting the overall score as reported by “Channel PNU” on November 2nd, 2023. Regarding this, Hwang Sung-Wok (Dept. of Media and Communication, PNU), Dean of Strategic Planning, explained, “Past internal university evaluations focused heavily on quantitative achievements like the number of papers published, which led to weakness in the QS rankings that assess the qualitative value of papers.”

These issues were addressed through support measures such as reforming the paper incentive system and increasing funding for publications in international journals. According to PNU, the “PNU Han-Maeum Prize” program was restructured to provide differential payments ranging from 2 million won per paper up to a maximum of 7 million won based on cumulative paper citations. Additionally, within the “Excellent Paper Publication Incentive” program, support for domestic journals was reduced, while funding for publications in SCIE/SSCI-level international journals was increased from 5 million won to 7 million won. The requirement of a one-year performance period for new researchers was abolished to fully recognize early research achievements, and funding per domestic and international collaborative research project was doubled.

Beyond this, PNU attributes its increased sustainability score to the newly established ESG Management Center and the launch research journal “PNU Research Highlights.” The sustainability score also rose from 8.1 points in 2024 to 6.0 points in 2025, reaching 73.6 points this year.

This achievement of rising in the QS rankings for three consecutive years and entering the top 400 is expected to galvanize PNU’s efforts to attract international students and faculty. Jeong Bong-Gu (Director, Division of International Cooperation of PNU International) stated, “International students are also very proud of the rise in the QS rankings.” He continued adding, “The strong attraction of international students and faculty creates a virtuous cycle that enhances PNU’s ranking.”

Building on this achievement, PNU plans to accelerate its long-term development strategy. Dean Hwang stated, “Entering the top 400 is symbolic and meaningful, but we won't stop here. We aim to enter the top 100 by 2035.” He added, “To this end, we will implement institutional reform by overhauling the faculty performance evaluation system and introducing an integrated performance evaluation system. We also plan to strengthen cooperation with overseas universities and industries by expanding research and development tied to regional strategic projects.”

Reporter Lee Kyeong-Hwan

Translated by Channel PNU