South Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology has lost its crown as the world’s top young university, according to the Times Higher Education’s annual ranking published Wednesday.

The university, which had topped the list since its inception in 2012, slid to second place, with Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne snatching the No. 1 spot.

The fourth annual ranking by Times Higher Education ranked the top 100 universities that were founded less than 50 years ago, using 13 indicators across four areas -- research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international activities.

The top five positions were claimed by Asian institutions, with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Hong Kong University of Science and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University holding onto third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.

South Korea increased its representation on the overall list of the world’s top young universities, with the University of Ulsan entering the list at 90th.

Unlike the traditional Times Higher Education’s world university rankings, which is dominated by U.K. and U.S. institutions, the table for young universities has put more emphasis on metrics other than history and heritage to better capture the potential of young institutions.

This year, a total of eight nations including South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Netherlands and France appeared in the top 10 table.

Overall, 28 countries featured in the list, a notch down from 29 last year.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)