Sorry NUS, you're only second best in Asia

HKU is the region's top university, according to 2012/13 QS World University Rankings.

Overall though Asian universities still trail behind the higher-tier US, UK and EU universities. The University of Hong Kong (HKU) placed just 23rd worldwide, two notches above NUS (25) and seven ahead of Tokyo (30).

There was no Indian university in top 200 while China has two in top 50: Peking (44) and Tsinghua (48) and other five in top 200, noted QS Quacquarelli Symonds in a release accompanying the ranking results.

"Cambridge is once again home to the world's number one university. Yet this year the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not the UK's second-placed Cambridge University, takes the crown for the first time," said QS. "The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research powerhouse is propelled to the top spot by its superior citation rates and student/faculty ratio, alongside an increase in international faculty."

Neighboring Harvard University slips to third, having topped the table every year between 2004 and 2009. In contrast, MIT has risen steadily up the rankings from 10th in 2007.

"The rise of MIT coincides with a global shift in emphasis toward science and technology," says QS head of research Ben Sowter. "MIT perfects a blueprint that is now being followed by a new wave of cutting-edge tech-focused institutions, especially in Asia."

Nine of the top 10 tech-focused universities improve their position, led by MIT, Imperial College (6), Caltech (10) and ETH Zurich (13). Korea's KAIST (63) is the biggest riser in the top 100, while Hong Kong's HKUST (33) and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (47) continue their rapid ascent; both were founded in the last 21 years.

QS said a record 72 countries are featured in the top 700, following a rapid acceleration in international mobility. The top 100 universities average nearly 10% more international students than in 2011, the biggest single-year increase in the rankings' nine-year history.

Sowter states: "The unprecedented acceleration in international recruitment reflects an escalating global battle for talent. 120,000 more international students were reported by the top 500 universities this year. Total number of international students now exceeds 4.1 million globally."