SERDANG: Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) notched up yet another record of excellence when its Agricultural Sciences subject was listed in 42nd position worldwide by Best Global Universities Ranking 2016/2017.
The latest rankings, released by the US News & World Report yesterday, indicated an improvement in UPM’s ranking for Agricultural Sciences subject by three spots against 45th position in 2015/2016, strengthening the university’s position as being among Asia’s top seven, and maintaining its reputation as one of the best universities for Agricultural Sciences subject in Southeast Asia.
UPM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datin Paduka Dr Aini Ideris, said UPM’s ranking as the world’s 42nd best was derived from an increase in scores by 0.6 to 71.7 this year, compared to 71.1 last year.
She said that the excellent performance for UPM’s Agricultural Sciences subject was supported by the increase in four main indicators — global research reputation, which went up to 62nd position (75th last year); total citations to 29th (37th) and international collaboration to 68th (83rd).
“What makes us proud are the significantly improved positions of 19th for the Regional Research Reputation Indicator, 19th for Publications and 29th for Total Citations.
“UPM’s commitment in empowering the field of agriculture – as recognised through global rankings – disproves the claims by some critics that UPM is neglecting its niche in Agriculture studies.
“UPM’s success in the field of Agricultural Sciences is an impact derived from quality academic and research and excellent contributions made by academicians, staff and students,” said Aini.
She added that the role of UPM in supporting the empowerment of agriculture studies, as outlined in the UPM Strategic Plan 2014-2020, is a direct result of the implementation of the Putra Global 200 strategic plan.
The Best Global Universities Ranking report carries out assessments on renowned universities around the world, ranking them based on 22 subjects. The US News & World Report listed 200 of the world’s top universities for its 2016/2017 evaluation against 750 universities in 2015/2016.