Malaysian varsities make Asia's innovative list

Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Malaya are listed among the most innovative universities in Asia.

The list is comprised of 75 highly acclaimed institutions from Asia, where Malaysian universities had to compete with universities from Japan, South Korea, China, India,  and of course, Singapore. The list also included universities from Australia and New Zealand.

The Reuters Top 75 ranking is an assessment conducted by Reuters news agency, the Indian Edition, with primary focus on institutions contributing to scientific advancement, inventing new technologies, and helping drive global economy.

This ranking is based on the number of research papers, which is an indicative of the university's research capabilities as well as the quality of research, which is determined by the number of patents filled over a particular period of time and the commercial value of these discoveries and advancements.

Stiff competition

According to Reuters Top 75 list, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaya (UM), barely made it through the rigorous competition with globally recognised players. Both universities came in 73rd and 75th place, respectively.

However, Japan and South Korea have dominated the top of the list where 17 places in the top 20 were awarded to Japanese and South Korean universities as they filed twice as many patents compared to other higher learning institutions in Asia.

KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), established in 1971 and was modelled after the top schools of engineering and technology in the United States with initial funding coming from the US government at the time, is at the lead. KAIST has registered more patents than any other university in Asia which indicates their capabilities of advance scientific research with commercial values that contributes to the global economy. Second place went to the University of Tokyo, Japan, one of the country's most prestigious universities, which is ranked 39th worldwide.

China, on the other hand, had the most universities in the list with 22 places out of the 75. China's highest ranked university on the Reuters Top 75 is Tsinghua University at number 13.

The list included two Indian universities, 6 Australian universities, 2 Singaporean universities, and 1 university from New Zealand.

Although Malaysian universities ranked lowest on the list, UPM and UM hold a prestigious place among Asian universities where QS Asia ranks UM at 27th and UPM at 49th in Asia. Additionally, QS World Ranking awards UM the 146th place and UPM the 331st place along with 3 other local public universities.

Long road ahead

Malaysian higher learning institutions are working together with the Ministry of Higher Education to have 2 public universities in the world's top 100 by the year 2020. This can only be accomplished if universities in Malaysia work to fulfil the ranking requirements and score higher on the assessment indicators.

Assessment indicators are academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), student-to-faculty ratio (20%), research citations per faculty member (20%), proportion of international faculty (5%) and proportion of international students (5%).

Additionally, Malaysia has a national science and technology policy in place aiming at competency, confidence and innovativeness in the utilisation and advancement of science and technology in Malaysia.

The Reuters Top 75 is considered an achievement as Malaysian universities prove capable of holding their ground in such a highly competitive learning environment and reflect an image of sustainability and growth in the national higher education. This achievement should be a force of change and improvement for a better future for Malaysia's tertiary education.

Reuters Top 75 List:

Rank, name and location

1. Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), South Korea
2. University of Tokyo, Japan
3. Seoul National University, South Korea
4. Osaka University, Japan
5. Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH), South Korea
6. Tohoku University, Japan
7. Kyoto University, Japan
8. Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea
9. Yonsei University, South Korea
10. Keio University, Japan
11. National University of Singapore, Singapore
12. Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
13. Tsinghua University, China
14. Korea University, South Korea
15. Hanyang University, South Korea
16. Peking University, China
17. Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology, South Korea
18. Kyushu University, Japan
19. Nagoya University, Japan
20. Hokkaido University, Japan
21. Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
22. Ajou University, South Korea
23. Zhejiang University, China
24. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
25. Kyung Hee University, South Korea
26. Hiroshima University, Japan
27. University of Auckland, New Zealand
28. University of Sydney, Australia
29. University of Tsukuba, Japan
30. Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, China
31. Tokyo Medical & Dental Uniersity, Japan
32. Monash University, Australia
33. University of Queensland, Australia
34. University of Melbourne, Australia
35. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
36. Fudan University, China
37. Chonnam National University, South Korea
38. Okayama University, Japan
39. Shinshu University, Japan
40. Kumamoto University, Japan
41. Tianjin University, China
42. Kanazawa University, Japan
43. Ewha Womans University, South Korea
44. Inha University, South Korea
45. East China University of Science & Technology, China
46. Chiba University, Japan
47. Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China
48. Waseda University, Japan
49. South China University of Technology, China
50. Kyungpook National University, South Korea
51. Chonbuk National University, South Korea
52. University of New South Wales, Australia
53. Catholic University of Korea, South Korea
54. Pusan National University, South Korea
55. Nanjing University, China
56. University of Hong Kong, China
57. Huazhong University of Science & Technology, China
58. Southeast University - China, China
59. Konkuk University, South Korea
60. Kobe University, Japan
61. Dalian University of Technology, China
62. Nankai University, China
63. Harbin Institute of Technology, China
64. Xian Jiaotong University, China
65. Chung Ang University, South Korea
66. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
67. Sichuan University, China
68. Sun Yat-sen University, China
69. Gyeongsang National University, South Korea
70. Nihon University, Japan
71. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), India
72. Indian Institute of Science (IISC) - Bangalore, India
73. Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
74. University of South Australia, Australia
75. Universiti Malaya, Malaysia