The THE Top 200 Young University Rankings 2017 were released on Wednesday.

While the Switzerland-based Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne remained No 1 on the list of best young higher-educational institutes, the next four are from Asia.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong was named second-best young university, followed by Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, Pohang University of Science and Technology of South Korea, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology of South Korea.

The 2017 Young University Rankings used the same 13 rigorous and demanding performance indicators as the overall World University Rankings but only well-performing universities that are 50 years old or younger can join the list, THE said.

“While the US dominates the World University Rankings, it claims less than 3 per cent of places in this young top 200 list. Even the most-represented nation in the table, the UK, only takes 13.5 per cent of positions. The result is that universities from 48 countries across Europe, Australasia, Asia, North America and Latin America make the table. This means the list represents a wider range of countries than any other THE ranking, except the flagship world rankings,” THE rankings editor Phil Baty said.

The UK is the most represented nation in the ranking with 27 universities, closely followed by Australia with 23. France, Spain, Germany and Italy come next with 16, 15, 11 and 10 institutions respectively.

Asia has also been doing well. Half of the top-10 places are led by Asian universities – the best result for the continent since the rankings began in 2012. Overall, more than a quarter (55) of the top 200 places are filled by universities from across 18 Asian countries including Thailand.

“It is no easy task to appear in the 2017 Young University Rankings… Institutions must demonstrate high standards of performance across teaching, research, international outlook and knowledge transfer,” Baty added.