All 5 M'sian Research Universities Break Into QS World's Top 200 For The First Time Ever
Universiti Malaya has also achieved its highest position yet at 59th place, up 11 spots from last year's ranking.
By May Vin Ang — 10 Jun 2020, 12:13 PM
For the first time ever, all five Malaysian research universities have been ranked in the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking's top 200
According to The Star, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was the latest to join the top 200 in the 2021 rankings, jumping 30 spots to 187th.
The other four local institutions gradually climbing up the ranks and gaining reputation among the world's best 200 universities are namely Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Steadily rising the ranks, UM has achieved its highest position yet at 59th place, up 11 spots from last year's ranking
New Straits Times reported that Malaysia's oldest university improved its performance in four out of the six metrics utilised by QS, with a noteworthy rise of 76 places in its citations per faculty - the research impact indicator.
The six indicators used to compile the rankings are academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio.
Meanwhile, UPM jumped 27 places to land at 132nd, UKM rose 19 rungs to place 141st followed by USM, which climbed 23 places to rank at 142nd.
Worth a mention is also Taylor's University which made a significant leap, rising 135 places to 379th
The Malaysian private university recorded the most impressive year-on-year growth and made it into the world's top 400 universities for the first time ever.
The QS World University Rankings ranks the world's top 1000 universities.
Globally, the top three universities all came from the United States. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was named the world's best university for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Stanford University and in third place, Harvard University.
QS research director Ben Sowter said the improvement of Malaysian universities in its rankings is the result of concerted efforts and sustained investment
According to Malay Mail, the Ministry of Education received 19.1% of the government's overall budget last year, and that is not inclusive of the research and development budget.
"The reputation of the local universities is growing steadily among the international academic community and global employers," said Sowter.
"The positive trend must be celebrated as it is an extraordinary result especially considering that the rankings are dynamic and very competitive."
