UM moves up 17 spots in global ranking

KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Malaya (UM) has been ranked 70th in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings (QS-WUR) 2020, climbing 17 spots from last year’s placing.

The university achieved an overall score of 67.1, an improvement of 7.2 per cent.

This new ranking places UM 
in the top seven per cent of the 1,001 institutions ranked by QS-WUR.

In a statement, UM Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Abdul Rahim Hashim said the achievement was in line with its mission to be recognised as the internationally preferred institution of higher learning in teaching and learning, research, publication and innovation.

“Our goal is, and has always been, to benchmark UM against other outstanding universities around the world with a view for improvement to raise the standard of Malaysia’s higher education.

“UM has successfully sustain-
ed its upward trajectory in the face of fiscal challenges, and 
emphasised the wisdom and 
value of increased financial support from the government in order to achieve excellence in teaching and learning, research and innovation in the years ahead.”

Rahim said with increased investment, the university would be able to intensify global collaborations, enhance strategic research and industry partnerships and improve graduate employability.

The university had plans to widen its talent pool with local and international staff, as well as retain the services of its internationally-recognised retired academics, he added.

QS-WUR uses six indicators to compile the ranking, which measure academic reputation (40 per cent), employer reputation (10 per cent), faculty/student ratio (20 per cent), citations per faculty (20 per cent) and five per cent each for international faculty ratio and international student ratio.