KANGAR: For the first time ever, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) made it into the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking 2020.
UniMAP is now ranked among the best in the world, being ranked at the top 701-750 based on the recently released global ranking.
It is one of two universities in the Malaysian Technical Universities Network (MTUN) that are ranked in the top 1,000, with Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) ranked at the top 751-800.
UniMAP vice-chancellor Professor Dr R Badlishah Ahmad said this was UniMAP’s best achievement to date, and is in tandem with aspiration set in the university’s strategic plan, that is to be amongst the world’s best in 2020.
“We are very aware of the fact that many universities, especially those that have been around for more than 20 years, strive to be ranked among the top 1,000, and as one of the 20 Malaysian universities that have been able to do so, is something that we all can be proud of.
“This achievement is a reflection of the high commitment and dedication that UniMAP’s faculty and staff have placed on their overall productivity in all of the 17 years that we have been around.
“In particular, we have emphasised on excellent teaching, high impact research, and industry collaboration towards producing graduates who will fulfil the needs of the world of work and contribute to national and global development”, he said today.
For the 2020 exercise, QS World University Rankings considered 1,620 universities, based on six indicators, which are academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty, faculty student ratio, international faculty and international students.
In 2018, UniMAP obtained five stars in QS Stars Rating, and is also ranked 201 amongst Asia’s best in QS Asia Rankings.
The QS report classifies UniMAP as being of very high in its research intensity, with specialist subject area focus, while UniMAP’s faculty-student ratio places the university at the world’s top 271, a clear indication of the university’s commitment to high quality teaching and learning.
Although regarded as a young university by QS standards, Badlishah said the achievement was a result of UniMAP’s focus on excellence criteria and towards enhancing the university’s visibility.
“Moving forward, UniMAP will put even more efforts to nurture our students in order to equip them with the requisite skills they need to thrive in their learning and to successfully enter the world of industry.
“In addition, UniMAP will further work towards ensuring that our faculty are able to balance between doing research, teaching and linking up with industries in our bid to ensure that the nation benefits from work done at the university.
“We hope that UniMAP’s visibility in QS World Rankings will open many more doors for us to forge strategic ties and collaboration with world’s best universities and industry players,” he added.
Badlishah expressed his gratitude to UniMAP’s first vice-chancellor, Datuk Professor Emeritus Dr Kamarudin Hussin, who began UniMAP’s journey with QS, and also the second vice-chancellor Datuk Professor Dr Zul Azhar Zahid Jamal for his leadership in continuing and strengthening the agenda leading to the success.