UM is 87th in global rankings

By KAREN CHAPMAN received lower scores for Citations per [email protected] Faculty, indicating that most of the top uni- versities that occupy this cohort have strong- UNIVERSITI Malaya (UM) has made history er research programmes. Doing so will also by being ranked 87th in the 2019 QS World help improve the profile of UM's research, University Rankings. which could be expected to lead to improve- The country's premier university moved ments in the academic reputation indicator," up 27 places from 114th last year. he added. Globally, UM is within the top 1% of Congratulating UM and the other universi- approximately 26,000 universities. It has ties in the rankings, Higher Education direc- improved steadily from 151 in 2015 to 146 in tor-general Datin Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir said 2016,133 in 2017,114 in 2018 and now 87 in this achievement reflects the culture of aca- 2019. demic excellence in research as well as teach- UM vice- Datuk Abdul Rahim ing and learning. Hashim described this as the pride of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia is in 184th nation. place while Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) He attributed this success to the commit- is ranked 202nd and Universiti Sains ment of all UM staff and their dedication Malaysia (USM) is at 207th. towards achieving the goals set in the univer- Universiti Teknologi Malaysia is ranked sity's strategic plan to strengthen its funda- 228th while Universiti Teknologi Petronas, mentals, particularly in teaching, research Universiti Utara Malaysia, International and international collaboration. Islamic University Malaysia and Universiti Abdul Rahim emphasised that the work Teknologi Mara are also included in the rank- done by his predecessors and the university ings (see table for details). in the past have laid a strong foundation for UPM vice-chancellor Prof Datin Paduka Dr UM to be in the top 100. Aini Ideris said the university has constantly "Further analysis into the ranking results improved since 2013. showed that three indicators, namely aca- "UPM is on target according to its strategic demic reputation, employer reputation and plan to be in the top 200 of the rankings by citations per faculty helped to leapfrog the 2020," she said. university into the top 100. USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Asma "The first two are indicators of the univer- Ismail recognises the fact that the people in sity's reputation among the academic com- USM, who have been driven by a culture of munity and employers respectively, and the excellence, play a pivotal role in the better- third measures the impact of its publica- ment of the university. tions," he said. "We have been rising steadily since 2014 by These, he added, represent global acknowl- concentrating on the fundamentals and I edgement and recognition of UM's quality in think we have improved further because the teaching and research. people in this university realise the impor- Congratulating Malaysian universities in tance of providing the best possible learning the rankings, Education Minister Dr Maszlee experience for the global community," she Malik said UM has shown consistent perfor- said. mance. "It is clear that our universities have built a Setting a benchmark solid reputation among their international peers. UCSI University can now call itself "The ministry will continue to support and Malaysia's top as it has facilitate our researchers in working with beaten its peers by breaching the top 500 of their international partners." the 2019 QS World University Rankings. He hoped UM would break into the top 50 It is ranked 481, placing it in the top 2% of in the QS World University Rankings next all universities in the world. year while other universities that were UCSI University vice-chancellor and presi- ranked in the top 200 could break into the top dent Senior Prof Datuk Dr Khalid Yusoff said 100. the latest milestone caps a memorable year Dr Maszlee said the Government will keep for UCSI. to its promise of granting varsities more 'This is a culmination of university-wide autonomy. push for excellence and performance with This, he added, is essential to help them specific strategies. Our focus is to push UCSI forge their own path forward and is in line further and higher. We are building the with international practices. strengths of the university. Quality education "We want all universities to enjoy their is our priority and we want to be a standard autonomy and to cultivate a culture of free- bearer of thought leadership," he said. dom as well as academic freedom," he said. Taylor's University vice-chancellor and On how UM could further improve, QS president Prof Michael Driscoll said being list- research director Ben Sowter said it could ed in the world university rankings is the big- make significant improvements in its gest achievement yet for Taylor's. research impact performance. "This success, which is built on hard work "Only seven of the overall top 100 have and dedication "of all our staff, will continue to be an inspiration for the university to world where 1,233 institutions from 85 differ- move on to bigger and better things in line ent countries were considered this year with with our aim to be one of Asia's top universi- 1,011 institutions ranked and 1,000 published. ties by the year 2022," he said. It is based on four key pillars namely Sowter said Malaysia is among the most research, teaching, employability and inter- improved countries in this edition of the nationalisation. rankings. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Its higher education system has a solid is the world's best university for a seventh reputation among both international consecutive year. academics and employers. To support this The National University of Singapore has positive ascending trajectory, the local univer- risen to become the world's 11th best univer- sities should continue to focus on increasing sity and regains its status as Asia's best uni- the impact of the research they produce," he versity. said. For more information, visit https://www. The QS World University Rankings is an topuniuersities.com/uniuersity-rankings/ annual table of the top universities in the world-university-rankings/2019

ED

Dr Maszlee (second from left) shares a light moment with UKM vice-chancel- lor Prof Tan Sri Dr Noor Azlan Ghazali (left), Abdul Rahim (second from right) and Prof Aini (right) before chairing a press conference on the rankings. QS World University Rankings 2019 2019 2018 Institution % | 87* 114* Universiti Malaya (UM) 184* 230* Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) 202 229 Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) 207 264* Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) 228 253 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) 481* UCSI University 521-530 601-650 Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) 601-650 Taylor's University 601-650 701-750 Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) 651-700 701-750 International Islamic University Malaysia (HUM) 701-750 Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) 751-800 751-800 Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) 801-1000 (MMU)

Note: * means shares the same ranking ©The Star Graphics Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2019 https://www.topuniversities.com/