DGIST Stands Shoulder to Shoulder with Harvard and MIT... No. 1 in Korea for Citations per Faculty in QS Rankings for Two Consecutive Years

Received Perfect Score of 100 in Citations per Faculty
Only 11 Universities Worldwide Achieved This Milestone
Demonstrating Research Impact

Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) has once again demonstrated its world-class research impact. Alongside top-tier universities such as Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and California Institute of Technology (Caltech), DGIST achieved the highest score for the second consecutive year in the citations per faculty indicator of the QS World University Rankings, securing the No. 1 spot in South Korea.

DGIST announced on the 19th that, according to the “2027 QS World University Rankings” released by the UK-based global university evaluation agency QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), it ranked first in South Korea in the “Citations per Faculty” category.

DGIST campus. Provided by DGIST

The QS World University Rankings is a global university assessment that evaluates university competitiveness based on nine indicators, including academic and employer reputation, student-to-faculty ratio, citations per faculty, internationalization, and sustainability.

Among these, citations per faculty is an indicator that shows how frequently papers published by a university’s researchers have been cited by scholars worldwide, and is considered a key criterion for assessing research quality and academic impact.

DGIST recorded 409.5 citations per faculty member over the past five years. This is approximately 6.8 times higher than the global average of 59.9. For the second year in a row, DGIST received the top score of 100 points in this category.

Notably, only 11 universities worldwide—including Harvard, MIT, and Caltech—have received the highest score (100 points) in this metric for two consecutive years. Among science and technology specialized universities in South Korea, DGIST is the only institution to achieve this distinction for two consecutive years.

Founded in 2004, DGIST is a relatively young university, having established its graduate school in 2011 and undergraduate program in 2014. Despite its short history, DGIST has established itself among the world’s leading universities, demonstrating its research competitiveness.

Recently, DGIST designated Physical AI, Human Digital Twin, and Quantum Sensing as its three key future strategic fields and established dedicated research organizations for each. The university is also working to strengthen its capabilities in AI-based research and education by establishing an AI college and launching the AX Joint Research Lab.

Kunwoo Lee, President of DGIST, stated, “This achievement is the result of every member’s dedication to research and innovation. Building on our research competitiveness recognized worldwide, we will further enhance DGIST’s uniquely differentiated interdisciplinary research and advance as a global research-oriented university leading in the AI era.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.