PETALING JAYA: Over 20 scientists from Malaysian universities have been listed in the World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists 2023 by Stanford University.
Of the 23, 14 of them are from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) while another nine are from UCSI University.
Emeritus Prof Dr Boo Nem Yun @ Mooi Nam Ying, Prof Dr Ong Kok Seng, Prof Dr Chung Boon Kuan, Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong, Hew Jun Jie, Dr Leong Lai Ying, Prof Dr Mohammed JK Bashir, Dr Bernard Saw Lip Huat, Dr Pang Yean Ling, Dr Yau Kok Lim, Dr Ng Law Yong, Prof Dr Sumathi Sethupathi, Dr Steven Lim and Prof Dr Andy Tan CC are from UTAR.
Prof Boo and Prof Ong have appeared twice, being named in both the career-long data and single recent year data lists.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who is a member of the UTAR University Council, congratulated the 14 UTAR academic staffers for being named in the coveted list.
“The number of academic staffers (from UTAR) in the selection increases year by year, with three in 2020, six in 2021, eight last year and as many as 14 today,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Dr Wee thanked the members of the UTAR Education Foundation Board of Trustees, members of the University Council, president and CEO Prof Datuk Dr Ewe Hong Tat, and all of the university’s academic staff members for constantly improving academia in UTAR.
“Let’s continue to work hard to provide high-quality and affordable education to all students.
“Your outstanding performance is our pride!” he added.
Prof Ewe thanked all the researchers for their commitment and contributions in support of scientific innovation and R&D.
“UTAR will continue to work on improvements to focus on research excellence and publications to share our knowledge with the world,” he said.
Those from UCSI University are Distinguished Prof Dr Phang Siew Moi, Distinguished Prof Dr Ooi Keng Boon, Senior Prof Dr Garry Tan Wei Han, Prof Dr Richard Peter Bailey, Prof Datuk Dr Ng Seik Weng, Assoc Prof Dr Mehrbakhsh Nilashi, Assoc Prof Dr Eric Chan Wei Chiang, Assoc Prof Dr Eugene Aw Cheng Xi, and Assoc Prof Dr Shayla Islam.
Prof Ooi and Dr Nilashi are classified in the world’s top 0.17%, while six academics made the top 1%.
Another seven academics were also recognised as the top three researchers in Malaysia in their respective fields and subfields.
Prof Phang, who is UCSI University deputy vice-chancellor (research and postgraduate), was ranked as Malaysia’s top scientist in the field of biology, as well as the subfields of marine biology and hydrobiology.
UCSI University Graduate Business School dean Prof Ooi was ranked as Malaysia’s top researcher in the subfields of information systems, as well as business and management, while Prof Bailey was ranked first in the subfield of sport sciences.
UCSI University vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir said this latest milestone was the result of the university’s sustained research focus.
“On top of supporting our academics with resources, facilities and recognition, we provide them with space to grow, explore and innovate.
“I’m glad to note that UCSI is home to some of Malaysia’s foremost researchers in various fields and subfields. We celebrate their talent and achievements at every opportunity.
“We want UCSI to be synonymous with research excellence.
“We also want to be consequential and we will focus on research that impacts society and solves real-world problems,” she said.
US-based Stanford University released the annual ranking using the Scopus author profiles as of Oct 1, 2023, from various scientific fields.
This ranking, considered the most prestigious worldwide, is based on the bibliometric information contained in the Scopus database.
