The University Performance Metrics (UPM) released by the group of scientists shows that five schools received a 5-star rating.

These include the Hanoi National University, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the University of Technology belonging to the Hanoi National University, Kasetsart University (Thailand), and the University of Natural Sciences belonging to the Hanoi National University. All of these universities are research-oriented schools. The UPM star rating is based on eight categories comprising 54 criteria, including 1/strategic management with 5 criteria, accounting for 6 percent 2/training with 15 criteria (35 percent) 3/research with 4 criteria (20 percent) 4/renovation and creativity with 4 criteria (11 percent) 5/the renovation and creation ecosystem with 4 criteria (6 percent) 6/information technology and digital resources with 10 criteria (10 percent) 7/the level of internationalization with 9 criteria (6 percent) and 8/the community serving with 3 criteria (6 percent).
The universities given the rating of 5 stars have outstanding lecture staff, good scientific research results, innovation activities and an innovation ecosystem. The five-star universities' have 60 percent of lecturers with doctorates and international publications of 1.5 articles per lecturer (the figure is 3 at the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences and University of Technology). The citation index is over 6 per article. The universities have more than 10 patents and useful solutions, and they have knowledge transfer and startup support centers. UPM has discovered some differences between Vietnam’s and regional universities in strategic management, publications’ quality and startup ecosystems. While universities in ASEAN pay high attention to startups, innovation and digital transformation in their strategic management, Vietnam’s universities pay less attention to these issues. Regarding the quality of international publications, the average citation index of the articles in the last five years at Vietnam’s universities has risen. The number of articles with foreign authors at Vietnam’s universities is also higher.

"The universities given the rating of 5 stars have outstanding lecture staff, good scientific research results, innovation activities and an innovation ecosystem."

Meanwhile, the number of patents, especially patents registered at international intellectual property organizations, in the last five years at regional universities is higher than Vietnam’s. As for the innovation ecosystem, while joint creative hubs and hi-tech parks are quite popular in regional universities, they are unfamiliar in Vietnam. Prof Nguyen Huu Duc, the founder of the research team, said the university ranking is mostly based on 10-12 criteria, of which international publications account for a large proportion, so they give only a unilateral outlook of universities. Other kinds of ranking include QS-Stars, U-Multirank and AppliedHE.