UUM MAKES A HUGE LEAP IN TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION ASIA UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2021

UUM ONLINE: Year after year, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) continues to show excellence when it was ranked 155th in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings 2021, up from the 251-300 band the previous year which in one fell swoop positioned it amongst the Top 160 Asia universities.

Prof. Dato' Dr. Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani, Vice-Chancellor, thanked and praised all the denizens of the University who worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the University’s ascent in the ranking, despite the fact that the world is now grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to him, the current achievement attained in the international university ranking was a testament to everyone's hard work and perseverance.

According to him, the leap of two bands in the ranking was something to be proud of, and it was one of the key foundations in establishing UUM as a world-class university, not just in Asia. The achievement also demonstrated UUM's reputation as a Leading Management University that had received international recognition amongst academics and the industry.

He added that all of the efforts made over the last three years since 2019 namely enhancing the quality of work, enhancing the corporate agenda, establishing contacts with the Industry, carrying out branding campaigns, and raising English proficiency among staff and students, had paid off.

"Furthermore, being in this position in the ranking contributes to students' decision to continue their studies at UUM as it demonstrates the quality of the programmes offered.

"In addition, students and the general public can evaluate UUM's quality by looking at the marketability of graduates, the resources available, and UUM's interaction with the community, which is not limited to the academic sector," he said.

According to him, UUM will continue to mobilise its energy and expertise to improve the quality of academics and scholarship so that the University may remain a key player in global institutions of higher learning in line with the University's tagline, ‘We Are Global’.

THE Asia University Rankings use the same 13 performance indicators as THE World University Rankings however these indicators are recalibrated to reflect the attributes of Asia’s institutions in order to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparison, which is trusted by students, academics, university leaders, the industry, and government. 

These performance indicators are grouped into five areas namely teaching (learning environment); research (volume, revenue and reputation); citation (research influence); international views (staff, students and research); and industry income (knowledge transfer).

THE Asia University Rankings this year ranked a total of 551 universities from 30 Asian countries.