GEORGE TOWN: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been ranked as the 14th world’s best "young" university in the recently released ‘QS Top 50 under 50’ ranking by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
USM previously ranked 23rd prior to making the debut in the young universities listing in 2016.
In the latest 2019 listing, four Malaysian public universities made it into the list, with USM being among the top three in the list.
Describing it as the university’s "best performance ever", USM vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Asma Ismail said the significant improvement was a result of the university’s continuous improvement in its fundamentals, in line with the spirit of making USM the preferred university.
“We are just shying a few steps away from being in the Top 10 in the world’s best young universities listing, and I believe that this is a great achievement, manifesting the commitment made by the university staff, both academic and administration, as well as its alumni and stakeholders.
“We are aware of the stiff competition, and the big leap in a way is showcasing that Malaysia has world-class higher learning institutions. Being Malaysian, I am proud to witness this and I believe many other Malaysians share the same sentiment,” she said today.
Asma said USM had been showcasing numerous achievements in various fields in the current year, especially with the recent success of its academic, Dr Khayriyyah Mohd Hanafiah, when she was named as the World’s Best Science Communicator at FameLab International 2018 Competition.
The university also have five of its scientists among the six selected to represent Malaysia at the upcoming 68th Nobel Laureate Meeting from June 24 to June 29 in Lindau, Germany.
“This is a testimony that we have been gearing up right, and if given a steady chance, I believe Malaysia will become a much more dominant nation in higher education, beyond the rankings,” she added.
Meanwhile, in the latest QS World University Ranking 2019 (QS-WUR 2019) released in early June 2018, USM has gone up 57 places to position itself at number 207, up from number 264 the year before.
This further affirms the fact that USM is among the Top 21 per cent of the 1,011 institutions ranked by QS from 1,233 institutions evaluated worldwide for the 2019 ranking list.