Singapore universities have been placed among the world's best tertiary institutions, with NUS ranked as Asia’s No. 1 university, according to the 2013 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking by Subject published on Tuesday. As a specialised institution, SMU performed well in both business-related subjects as well as the social sciences. Statistics showed that NUS was ranked in the world's top 10 universities for 12 subjects, while NTU had 13 courses ranked among the top 50 in the world. A QS spokesperson said that although Singapore universities were relatively “young”, they exhibited vigour, vision, and perseverance, and have reached world-class standards in various aspects.