PENANG, 26 November 2020 - Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) moved up the rankings to #34 and to remain among the best universities in Asia, compared to being at #37 last year, as announced in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Asia 2021 released yesterday.

The achievement is a testimony to the ability of the university to retain its excellent performance and which has steadily gone up the rungs since 2016.

In 2016, USM was placed at #51 and since then has moved up consistently 17 places to the latest ranking at #34.

At #34, USM’s performance also put the university among the top 6% universities in Asia.

The rankings evaluated 11 main indicators which are directly related to the performance of the respective universities, among which measures the  academic achievement, graduate employability, quality of research, internationalisation and diversity in international collaborations established by the university.

The 11 indicators are Academic Reputation (30% weightage), Employer Reputation (20%), Faculty Student (10%), Staff with PhD (5%), Citations per Paper (10%), Papers per Faculty (5%), International Research Network (10%), International Faculty (2.5%), International Students (2.5%), Inbound Exchange Students (2.5%) and Outbound Exchange Students (2.5%).  

USM strongest indicator is International Research Network where it is ranked #4 in Asia and this shows the university’s openness in establishing various research collaborations with other research institutions worldwide.

While out of the 35 institutions in Malaysia, USM is ranked second in Employer Reputation and International Research Network.

The QS World University Rankings: Asia 2021 ranked 650 higher educational institutions, encompassing 18 countries throughout Asia including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Pakistan among others.

USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah said, the university considers all rankings as an indicator of progress and continues to be committed in a holistic manner towards achieving its Vision and Mission.

“We welcome any acknowledgement by any sector; we will analyse the instruments and methodology, and will use them to gauge our progress and fill in the gaps.

“We are also mindful not to be swayed by any one particular metric as we have a more holistic approach which is guided by our Vision and Mission,” he said.    

Ahmad Farhan added that performing well in any rankings or performance metrics can be a good motivating factor for the entire team (USM as a whole) to consistently perform at the peak level.

According to the QS report, Malaysia was among the countries with the best performance in this year’s ranking, where ten local universities - seven public and three private - were listed among 110 best universities in Asia.

The report also stated that the country’s education system is accepted as highly reputable among academicians and employers at the Asian level.

Text: Tan Ewe Hoe & Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Infographic: Ebrahim Abdul Manan