Incheon National University has joined prominent universities around the world in efforts to create a new university ranking system that better measures universities’ efforts to drive innovation in Industry 4.0.

At a joint press conference, Cho Dong-sung, president of Incheon National University, said the traditional university ranking systems work in favor of research-focused universities.

“A new university ranking system that focuses on innovation in the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ should be established urgently,” Cho said at the press conference where he was joined by Ben Nelson, founder and CEO of Minerva Schools and Henk Pijlman, president of Hanze University of Applied Sciences.

Marking the 40th anniversary of Incheon National University, the university hosted the second Hanseatic League of Universities Conference at its campus in Songdo, Incheon, from July 3 to July 5.

It gathered presidents from some 70 universities around the world to discuss the future of higher education and the new university ranking system -- WURI, or World’s Universities with Real Impact -- that they launched.

“The direction ‘WURI’ is pursuing is to make it possible for universities to educate students in their own ways.”

The WURI ranking results will be released in 2020 at the third conference or upon a similar occasion.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)