PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s ability to produce high-quality research has led to some of its universities significantly improving in the Times Higher Education’s (THE) Asia University Rankings 2024.
In fact, all six of its top universities improved compared with last year, with Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) remaining the top performing Malaysian varsity, having climbed 11 spots to joint 52nd.
THE chief global affairs officer Phil Baty said the research excellence and research influence metrics, newly introduced this year, were two indicators where Malaysia scored above the average for Asian universities.
“If you look at research excellence and research influence, Malaysia has some outstanding papers,” he told The Star at THE’s Asia Universities Summit, which concluded yesterday at Sunway University.
Baty said research excellence measured how often Malaysian papers appeared in the top 10% in the world, while research influence looks at whether the papers citing Malaysian work are also being cited by other high-quality research.
“So it shows if you are in a network of high quality,” he said.
He also said Malaysia performed well in the international outlook metrics having been “very good at attracting international staff, international coauthored papers and attracting international students.”
The country’s second highest ranked university, Universiti Malaya (UM), moved up one place from 66th last year to 65th.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) made a very significant jump, moving 76 places from joint 161st last year to 85th.
Entering the top 100 in Asia is Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which leapt 71 places from joint 170th last year to 99th this year.
USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed said, as a research-intensive university, it has always given top priority to research and innovation.
“At the same time, (we) continue to advance ideas in teaching and learning and also networking, while spreading our wings at the international level.
“For the university to improve 71 places in this year’s THE Asia University Rankings, speak volumes about our dynamic efforts, which have been executed by the USM community, and I am grateful and thankful to everyone,” he added.
Also making significant gains is Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), which moved up 48 places from joint 149th last year to 101st, and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), which jumped 52 places from 154th to 102nd.
The number of Malaysian universities in the Asian top 100 has been increasing steadily from one in 2021 to four this year, with 10 universities in the top 200 and 17 in the top 500. Out of 22 universities that were ranked both this year and last year, 11 have gone up, seven remain unchanged and four went down.
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) president Prof Datuk Dr Ewe Hong Tat said it will continue to improve and add value in providing quality education and commitment to research.
“We will work harder in support of educational excellence,” he added.
The varsity maintained its rank in the 301-350 band.
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin also entered the ranking for the first time this year in the 501-600 band.
“Malaysia’s higher education sector is keen to significantly improve its internationalisation, which means attracting global talent, international students and increased collaboration, all of which is likely to improve the country’s universities even further in the ranking in the coming years,” Baty said in a press release announcing the rankings.
Tsinghua University in China tops the rankings for the sixth year in a row. In second place is another Chinese institution, Peking University, which is second for the fifth year in a row.
Taking third place is the National University of Singapore, which has also maintained its position for the fifth consecutive year. The full rankings can be viewed on https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2024/regional-ranking
