Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2026: winners announced

A Vietnamese university that went from the brink of closure to become a model for private higher education has won the headline prize at this year’s Times Higher Education Awards Asia.

Hanoi’s Phenikaa University topped the Leadership and Management Team of the Year category at the ceremony held in Hong Kong on 22 April.

In what was the first win for Vietnam in the prestigious category, and only the country’s second THE award ever, judges praised the university for a remarkable transformation that has taken place in less than a decade.

In 2017, the institution, then known as Thanh Tay University, had fewer than 50 students and came close to shutting, before it was acquired by the Phenikaa Group, a multi-sectoral corporation.

Today, the university has 35,000 students enrolled on 100 programmes across five schools, with a focus on innovation, sustainability and healthcare. Its faculty has grown rapidly from just over 200 scholars in 2019 to 840 in 2025.

Last year, it was recognised by Vietnam’s government as a model for private higher education development in the country.

For the first time in the awards’ eight-year history, all 10 of the winners came from 10 different countries and territories.

Hong Kong boasted the most institutions receiving recognition – with one winner and two highly commended. Lingnan University Hong Kong won the Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year category; Hong Kong Baptist University received a commendation for Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year; and Pauline Luk, a University of Hong Kong lecturer, was highly commended in the Most Innovative Teacher of the Year category.

The winners were chosen from more than 80 finalists, which were themselves picked from more than 500 entries.

THE’s editor, Chris Havergal, said the winners had “blazed a trail through initiatives of astonishing variety”.

“Collectively, our winners’ stories offer fresh confirmation of the health and vibrancy of Asia’s higher education sector, and leave little doubt that universities across this vast continent will hit even greater heights in the years to come,” he said.

Entries for the Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2027 will open in the summer.

Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2026: the winners

Leadership and Management Team of the Year
Phenikaa University (Vietnam)

International Strategy of the Year
Macao Polytechnic University (Macao)

Most Innovative Teacher of the Year
Rosszen Yorkah N. Rivera, Lyceum of the Philippines University Cavite (Philippines)
Highly commended: Pauline Luk, University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership
Izmir University of Economics (Turkey)

Outstanding Contribution to Regional Development
Duke-NUS Medical School (Singapore)
Highly commended: Chiang Mai University (Thailand)

Outstanding Support for Students
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) (Pakistan)

Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Lovely Professional University (India)

Research Project of the Year: STEM
Seoul National University (South Korea)

Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year
Almaty Management University (AlmaU) (Kazakhstan)
Highly commended: Hong Kong Baptist University (Hong Kong)

Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year
Lingnan University Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

Learn more about the winners in our special publication