UM moves up in world rankings

PETALING JAYA: Universiti Malaya (UM) has continued to climb up the 2016/17 QS World University Rankings for the third consecutive year.

It jumped from 146th last year to joint 133rd worldwide this year with Aalto University in Finland. UM was ranked 151 in 2014.

QS Intelligence Unit head of research Ben Sowter said UM was now close to becoming one of the world’s top 500 research institutions.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) moved from 331st to 270th while Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) went up 15 places to 288th position (see table).

For the first time, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) also made an appearance, featuring in the 601-650 band.

Sowter said it was also the only private university to make it into the World University Rankings.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has dropped to 330th this year. It was ranked 289th in 2015.

“This year’s rankings imply that levels of investment are determining who progresses and who regresses.

“Institutions in countries that provide high levels of targeted funding, whether from endowments or from the public purse, are rising,” he said.

Congratulating UM on its improved ranking, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap said it continued to lead the local universities.

“I would also like to congratulate UPM and UTM. The ministry is also encouraged by the new entry of UTP which indicates that our private higher education institutions are able to stake a claim on the world stage,” she added.

UM vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin said the university had emerged as the top higher learning institution in the nation, a position that it had maintained since its participation in this ranking exercise.

He said the university was mindful about some worrying indications in the ranking results due to the funding reduction over the past two years.

As a direct result, he said significant points were lost in the rankings, adding that the immediate challenge was to find new sources of funding to enable the university to continue its strategic plan and advance UM’s position in the league of world top uni­versities.

The Massachusetts Institute of Tech­­nology topped the rankings this year, followed by Stanford University and Harvard University.

For details, visit http://www.TopUniversities.com/rankings2016