Universiti Malaya (UM), despite achieving the 133rd ranking in the world universities this year, is mindful about some worrying indications in the ranking results.

UM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin in a statement today said the organisation suffered a loss in momentum that was built up in its internationalisation and recuritment efforts, mainly due to the funding reduction it faced in the last two years caused by the general economic
downturn.

“As a direct result, significant points were lost not only in the international staff indicator of the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings, but also the indicator of faculty student ratio.

“The setback that slowed down the university from making progression that matched its competitors had to be systematically dealt with for UM to make significant headway in gaining further international recognition and achieving a bigger leap in its position among world top universities,” he said.

He said a careful examination of the results also suggested that the university’s competitors were forging ahead at a faster rate in their research achievements.

UM moved up 13 positions from 146 to 133 this year in QS’s 2016/2017 World University Ranking.

- Bernama