On March 16, Phil Baty, the editor at large of Times Higher Education (THE), and reporters from seven Korean universities were invited by IDP Education, an international education organization, to a meeting to discuss the 2013-2014 THE World University Rankings. KAIST was one of seven Korean universities to be listed in the 2013-2014 World University Rankings, along with Seoul National University, POSTECH, Yonsei University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Hanyang University.
 
Previously, THE published its rankings in conjunction with Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British company that focuses on education and study abroad, in 2004. In 2009, THE departed from the cooperation due to ideological differences. THE now cooperates with Thompson Reuters, a media and information firm, to acquire analytical data for rankings. IDP Education is the official sponsor of THE and is widely recognized as the institution responsible for administering the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Since 1969, it has offered student placement in the United States, United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and others.
 
Baty emphasized the meticulous efforts to produce a balanced and holistic selection criteria for the university rankings. In generating the rankings, 13 performance indicators were divided into five main categories: teaching, research, citations, industry income, and international outlook. While the rankings generated by QS faced criticism in utilizing survey data, for THE, a UK polling company, Ipsos, was contracted in an effort to mitigate potential bias. Only published, proven scholars were granted access to invitation-only surveys to generate the THE rankings.
 
Previously, KAIST had ranked 79th, 94th, and 68th in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively, in the World University Rankings. For engineering and technology subject rankings, KAIST had previously placed at 40th and 44th in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Baty also emphasized the exceptional performance of “focused, agile, and entrepreneurially oriented East Asian science and technology institutions such as KAIST, POSTECH, and HKUST.”
 

Phil Baty first joined THE in 1996 as a reporter. In 2012, he was listed among the top 15 “most influential in education” by The Australian. He frequently speaks in various international conferences hosted by various global organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

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