Three Malaysian universities were listed among the world's top 50 young universities in the 2021 edition of the QS Top 50 Under 50 Rankings released recently by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) became the nation's highest ranked university, sharing the spot with Finland's Aalto University. The other two universities are Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) ranked at 13 and Taylor's University at 49th.
UPM vice-chancellor Professor Datin Paduka Dr Aini Ideris said the achievement was in line with the university's Putra Global 100 target to be among the top 100 best universities in the world within the next three years.
"UPM's performance saw a rise in almost all indicators evaluated by QS, with international student indicators reaching the highest among other Malaysian universities.
This is in line with UPM's effort to strengthen international collaborations through many internationalisation programmes.
"The Strategic Plan 2021-2025 and the Transformation Plan Beyond 2025, which is already in its framing process, will be an important platform to continue the legacy of global excellence."
UTM vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Ir Dr Wahid Omar said UTM has proved its sterling quality in empowering its academic programmes and high graduate employability as the youngest Malaysian research university listed.
"The remarkable performance is largely attributed to UTM's strong capabilities of researchers, with innovative, impactful and quality research, as well as employers' review.
"It also marks the success of UTM Global Plan, our strategic roadmap to strive and thrive amidst the current and future challenges driven by UTM core values, and this recent ranking shows that we are on the right track of actualising UTM Envision 2025 plan.
"Taylor's University vice-chancellor and president Professor Michael Driscoll said the university's progress in the rankings demonstrated its commitment towards providing world-class education.
"We will continue to push the boundaries through radical transformation of our approach to teaching and learning and by broadening our international reach.
"Taylor's Curriculum Framework is leading the way by providing a more customised curriculum experience for our students with enhanced opportunities to acquire transferable life skills, employment experience and international study opportunities.
"Our employer partners have also strongly signalled their approval of the direction Taylor's is taking as the university produces high-calibre, industry-ready graduates who perform well in their careers. The outcome of this transformation, reflected in the new rankings, is the result of a massive team effort at Taylor's and close engagement with our partners," said Driscoll.
In the 2021 ranking, Nanyang University, Singapore retains its position at the top of the list, followed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology at number two, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology at the third place. QS research director Ben Sowter said they were keen to illuminate the outstanding achievements made by universities that had not enjoyed the same historical advantages as their competitors.
"The decision to publish the ranking was based on two recognitions. The first is that reputations, resources and world-class outcomes are typically built over time. In the higher education sector, the period over which some institutions have been able to do so has been one of centuries.
"The second is that higher education is not static. It is in flux. By identifying trends across this particular ranking, it is possible to identify those higher education sectors that are becoming increasingly – or less – prominent."
Released on June 24, the 2021 edition of the Top 50 Under 50 list ranks the best universities established less than 50 years ago, based on results from the latest QS World University Rankings.
The entire list can be found at www.topuniversities.com.
