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Southeast Asian Universities Breaks into Times Higher Education Top 100

Southeast Asian Universities Breaks into Times Higher Education Top 100
© Research Management & Innovation Complex University of Malaya

The University of Malaya (UM) in Malaysia ranked among the top 20 universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education’s (THE) listing of varsities in emerging economies.

UM secured the 18th spot in THE’s Emerging Economies University Rankings 2019 — its highest position yet, making it to the top 20 league for the first time.

The private university scaled upwards by nine spots, compared to its 27th ranking in the same list last year.

“Malaya is the highest rising institution in this year’s top 20, progressing across the board — with improvements to its teaching (learning environment), research (volume, income and reputation), international outlook (staff, students and research), citations (research influence) and industry income (knowledge transfer) scores,” THE said in a statement today, as quoted by Malay Mail.

University of Malaya graduation. Image: Universiti of Malaya Facebook page/Business Insider Malaysia
University of Malaya graduation. Image: Universiti of Malaya Facebook page/Business Insider Malaysia

 

Apart from UM, two public institutions in Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), have also made significant strides. UTP scaled 17 positions to join the top 60 league, with improvements in all areas except industry income, whereas UTM climbed 15 positions, sitting in the top 100 league at the 86th ranking. 

Meanwhile, Mahidol University in Thailand rose eight notches from last year to 68 in the survey and the University of Indonesia (UI) into the top 100, climbing from 184th position in last year’s chart to 82nd rank -- a position shared with the Beijing Institute of Technology in China.

“[UI’s] rapid rise comes thanks to improvements to its teaching, research and international outlook scores -- as well as a very strong rise this year in its industry income score,” the magazine wrote in a statement, as quoted by The Jakarta Post. 

The ranking, launched on Wednesday, includes nearly 450 universities, an increase from 378 last year, located in 43 countries across four continents.

University of Indonesia campus in Depok, West Java. Image: Wikimedia Commons/Ilham Kuniawan Gumilang.
University of Indonesia campus in Depok, West Java. Image: Wikimedia Commons/Ilham Kuniawan Gumilang.

 

In order to provide the most comprehensive, balanced and trustworthy comparisons for the universities, THE uses carefully calibrated performance indicators that are grouped into five areas.

The first area is teaching, which includes learning environment. Next is research, comprising its volume, income and reputation. The third area is citations, which takes into account research influence. Fourth is international outlook, which covers staff, students and research. And finally, the fifth area is industry income, in which knowledge transfer is evaluated.

The magazine also noted significant increases in universities among Southeast Asian nations. Meanwhile, China dominates the 2019 ranking with 72 institutions, four of which claim the top-five positions.

 

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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