Unlike our Malaysian national football team whose world ranking keeps sliding (ahem), four Malaysian public universities have reportedly risen in this year’s Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking 2016/2017.
In a statement released by QS cited by Malay Mail Online, the nation’s oldest university, Universiti Malaya (UM), continued to lead local universities as they rose from the 146th spot last year to the 133rd spot this year.
“Universiti Malaya is one of three Malaysian universities to improve its research impact. It rises 30 ranks for citations per faculty. It is now close to becoming one of the world’s top 500 research institutions,” QS said in the statement.
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) was the highest jumper among Malaysia universities this year, rising a stunning 61 spots from 331 last year to 271 in this year’s list.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) rose 15 places to 273rd while Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) jumped 10 spots to 302nd.
Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), owned by oil and gas company Petronas, was a newcomer in this year’s list, placing in the 601-650 band.
Reacting to this year’s rankings, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching told The New Straits Times that Malaysian universities had proven that they are continuously improving and “soaring upwards”.
“Undoubtedly, these achievements are a testament of the hard work, commitment and dedication of our lecturers and researchers and the wider higher education community,” she was quoted as saying.
She added that the ministry would continue to support the universities in their quest to “develop holistic and balanced graduates”.
