UM ranked among world's top 400 universities

Universiti Malaya (UM) made it to the top 400 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018, a ranking of the top 1,000 universities from 77 countries.

Times Higher Education (THE) in a statement today said, UM, a new entrant in the list was ranked at the 351-400 band, while Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) were listed for the first time in the 501- 600 and 801-1,000 cohorts respectively.

The three universities were among the eight Malaysian universities included in the top 1,000 universities, compared to seven Malaysian universities in 2017.

The other five universities are Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Petronas, ranked 601-800.

"Malaysia is one of the leading emerging university nations in Asia. It has one of the world's fastest growth rates in research paper outputs (albeit from a low base), the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) training capacity has increased and it has the wealth needed to invest in the higher education sector.

"If Malaysia takes advantage of these characteristics, it may continue to improve in the rankings in the years to come," said THE.

THE Global Rankings Editorial director, Phil Baty said it was great to see Malaysia improving its standing in the rankings, although the rankings were becoming increasingly competitive, with several other Asian countries soaring up the table.

"The nation has long been tipped as one of Asia's leading emerging university nations and the results this year suggest it is beginning to bear the fruit of its labour," he said.

Baty said Malaysia would need to ensure it could maintain its investment in universities if it wanted to improve its global standing.

THE World University Rankings are the only global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Globally, the University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) retains first place in the THE World University Rankings 2018; University of Cambridge, UK (second), California Institute of Technology, United States (US) and Stanford University,US in third place and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US (fifth). -- BERNAMA