Nine Malaysian varsities listed in Impact Rankings

PETALING JAYA: There are nine Malaysian universities listed in the inaugural Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings 2019.

Leading the pack is Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM,) with a score of 84.1 out of 100, sitting at 49.

Universiti Malaya (UM) is within the 101-200 bracket, together with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). (see table)

UTAR president Prof Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik says the university is “glad” to be ranked in this bracket.

“We are glad to be informed that our strengths are in quality of education (ranked 45), reduced inequality (ranked 70) and gender equality (101-200),” he said.

He added that based on UTAR’s own survey, 50% of its undergraduates are actually the first person in their families to enter a university.

“In that sense, we are contributing to reduce poverty and improving the quality of life of poor families,” said Dr Chuah.

THE global rankings editor Ellie Bothwell said that the rankings recognise the work universities do for the good of society to tackle some of the most pressing global issues.

“The results in this inaugural edition shake up our very notion of what excellence looks like – universities in New Zealand, Canada and the UK sit alongside those in Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia in these pioneering and truly global new rankings,” she said in a statement yesterday.

New Zealand’s University of Auckland takes first place in the ranking while McMaster University in Canada, claims the second position.

Japan is the most-represented country in the overall ranking, followed by the United States and Russia.

More than 550 universities from 80 countries across 17 regions and six continents are featured in the rankings.

The rankings unveil unique new insights on universities’ work towards gender equality, climate action and sustainable cities and communities, among other areas.

The 12 league tables in the rankings reveal a new hierarchy of global institutions based on universities’ work towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The metrics include universities’ policies on academic freedom, their use of secure employment contracts and their share of senior female academic staff.

For more information, visit www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/impact/2019.