On September 2, 2021, the UK-based company Times Higher Education (“THE”) released its World University Rankings. These rankings are developed using an evaluation which looks at multiple performance indicators, such as teaching and research, for universities around the world, and, based on the results, Tokyo University of Science (TUS) was ranked third in “research performance” among private universities in Japan (14th among all universities in Japan). The research performance of a university is calculated from a global survey of research reputation, research-related income and academic productivity, and, because TUS is strong in all of these areas, it scored highly in research performance.
A number of different world university rankings exist, but all of them show that TUS is highly regarded internationally for its research strength.
In addition to THE, the UK-based company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) produces one of the world's most widely recognized university rankings, according to which TUS is ranked first among private Japanese universities (15th among all universities in Japan) for research performance in terms of “citations per faculty.”
Furthermore, according to the “Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)” compiled by the China-based Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, TUS ranked first among private Japanese universities (11th among all universities in Japan) in “per capita performance.”
[Assessment of "Research Performance" by the Major World University Rankings]
| THE World University Rankings 2022 (announced September 2, 2021) |
Research 3rd among private Japanese universities (14th among all Japanese universities) |
| QS World University Rankings 2022 (announced June 9, 2021) |
Citations per Faculty 1st among private Japanese universities (15th among all Japanese universities) |
| Academic Ranking of World Universities 2021 (announced August 15, 2021) |
PCP (per capita performance) 1st among private Japanese universities (11th among all Japanese universities) |
[THE World University Rankings: “Research Performance” Ranking]
| Rank | University |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of Tokyo |
| 2 | Kyoto University |
| 3 | Tohoku University |
| 4 | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| 5 | Osaka University |
| 6 | Nagoya University |
| 7 | Hokkaido University |
| 8 | University of Tsukuba |
| 9 | Kyushu University |
| 10 | Tokyo Medical and Dental University |
| 11 | Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology |
| 12 | Keio University∗ |
| 13 | Waseda University∗ |
| 14 | Tokyo University of Science∗ |
| 14 | Kobe University |
∗indicates private university
■THE World University Rankings:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2022/world-ranking 
■QS World University Rankings:
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2022
■Academic Ranking of World Universities:
http://www.shanghairanking.com/rankings/arwu/2021