The university was one of the first 88 national key universities designated by the central government.
East Timor's new national university is seen as the country's hope for the future.
In 2001, the government classified it as a "national" university.
The university is amongst the list of Project 211 for top national universities.
St. John's also wants to change its image from that of a city commuter school to a national university.
It is the only national university in the country with a focus on engineering.
It is a national, public university, administered by the government of Japan.
Now the number of the key national universities has been expanded into ten.
The journal moves among national universities every four to six years.
It was one of the first 20 national key universities in 1959.