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Oxford ... move over

Asian graduates from famous western universities have long been pursued by multinational companies upon returning to their home countries.

But as Asian countries enjoy their meteoric rise as international powers, their universities are attracting more and more top students and researchers from around the world, posing a growing threat to elite western establishments.

Last month, the release of the top 500 university world rankings by Shanghai Jiao Tong University caused a stir in the education world.

While the top 10 is still dominated by British and Ivy League establishments, Asian schools have shot up the table.

Topping the list of Asian candidates is the University of Tokyo in 20th place, followed by National University of Singapore at 109, National Taiwan University at 161 and Tsinghua University at 167.

In an interview with Newsweek last month, chairman of the admissions committee at Oxford University, Sir Tim Lankester, highlighted the increasing attraction of Asian universities.

'Asian universities are quite competitive in terms of quality ... we can't be complacent,' said Sir Tim.

Although Sir Tim believes the 'absolute best universities like Oxford and Cambridge' will continue to reign supreme, he acknowledged the growing threat posed by Asian schools.

'Singapore is pouring huge resources into their universities. Their learning facilities ... are phenomenal,' he said.

'Furthermore, they are offering American salaries to their professors.'

Schools in China and India are also fast becoming forces to be reckoned with.

'I've got some students at Oxford who are going to China's Tsinghua to do their master's degree ... something like that would have been unheard of 10 years ago.

'India has a few extremely good specialised institutions for technology, which certainly could become strong competition for computer science courses in Britain.'

As more top-notch Asian institutions burst onto the international radar, the battle between east and west to attract the world's best students has become increasingly intense.

To avoid direct competition, many top schools in the west have chosen to collaborate with their Asian counterparts.

Leading European business college Institut Europeen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) set up an Asian campus in Singapore in 2000, allowing its students to alternate their classes between its campuses in France and Singapore.

INSEAD also launched an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) programme with Tsinghua University in June.

The benefits of an east-west educational partnership are also evident to Lawrence Bacow, president of Tufts University, who was in Hong Kong last week to meet its Asian alumni.

'We have strong links with Chinese universities like Peking and Fudan Universities. Instead of competing, ... Asian and western universities can reap mutual benefits by working together,' said Mr Bacow.

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