5 varsities in Asia's 100

Thursday May 13, 2010
5 varsities in Asia's 100
By KAREN CHAPMAN
educate@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Five of Malaysia's universities are in the top 100 of the QS Asian University Rankings 2010.

Universiti Malaya (UM) is the highest ranked at 42, followed by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) at 58 and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) at 69.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) is at 77, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) at 82 and International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) at 159.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd managing director Nunzio Quacquarelli told The Star that Malaysian universities had done well, with most institutions holding close to last year's position or improving.

Rankings are a way for universities to measure their performance against one another.
There are other placings such as the QS World University Rankings seeking to identify world-class universities, while the Academic Ranking of World Universities is compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The best-known college and university rankings in the United States are compiled by US News & World Report.

This is the second time top Asian universities were evaluated in a regional ranking from QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd, which compiles the annual QS World University Rankings.

QS Intelligence Unit head Ben Sowter said the data collection process for the latest rankings was from late 2009 until the end of March this year.

UKM vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin said rankings was only one of the measures of a university's global recognition.

“UKM will learn from the rankings and continue to pursue our core functions of research, teaching and service according to our transformation plan,” she added.

UPM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Nik Mustapha Abdullah thanked university staff for working hard.

IIUM rector Prof Datuk Dr Syed Arabi Idid, who is attending a conference in Azerbaijan, said ranking was important, although programmes to make graduates employable were more vital.

UTM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang said the university was progressing well according to its five-year plan, and he was glad that despite UTM not being a research university, it had ranked comparably.

USM vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dzulkifli Razak said the university had formally informed QS that it was not participating in any of its rankings because of methodological flaws.

The University of Hong Kong tops the Asian University Rankings this year, followed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Techno-logy, the National University of Singapore and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

For full results, log on to www.topuniversities.com