Rangking of some Universities in Asia

UI, UGM, ITB again RI's best performers in university rankings

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 05/13/2009 11:38 PM | National

Three top Indonesian universities --University of Indonesia (UI), Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)-- are on the list of top 100 Asian universities, according to a new ranking published on Tuesday.

The first-ever Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).com Asian University Rankings has placed UI, UGM and ITB on the 50th, 63rd and 80th place, respectively, in its list of top 100 Asian universities.

Five other Indonesian universities have failed to make it to the top 100, but are on the top 200 list. Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) is ranked 119th, Airlangga University 130th, Diponegoro University and Sebelas Maret University 171st, and Brawijaya University 191st.

While in the 2008 Times Higher Education (THE)-QS World University Rankings University of Tokyo made it as Asian best performer (ranked 19th in the top 500 world universities list); in the 2009 QS.com Asian University Rankings the Japanese university only finishes third after University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, Japanese and South Korean universities dominate the top 10 places in the QS' premier regional ranking, allowing only the National University of Singapore to join in the 10th place.

Other Southeast Asian universities included in the big 50 list are Nanyang Technological University on 14th place, Thailand's Mahidol University on 30th place and Chulalongkorn University on 35th place, and Malaysia's Universiti Malaya on 39th place.

UI has therefore retained its position as Indonesia's best performer, as it is on the THE-QS 2008 World University Rankings; in which it ranks 287th.

UGM and ITB, however, have switched their positions.

QS managing director Nunzio Quacquarelli said in a press statement sent to The Jakarta Post, “Indonesian universities have performed well, with high peer and recruiter review scores. These results make study in Indonesia an attractive option for international students studying abroad.”

Indonesia's director general for higher education Fasli Jalal said the three top Indonesian universities' had made fairly good achievements with their rankings on the QS.com list, regarding that Asia was home to more than 4000 universities and other higher education institutions.

UI rector Gumilar Rusmiwa Sumantri said earlier that UI's improving rankings was attributable to its internal reforms, which included efficient financial management and efforts to produce more international journals and make the university a choice of study for more international students.

Similar measures have likewise been adopted by ITB, whose rector Djoko Santoso said it had been enjoying increasing number of foreign students in the past few years.

UI ranks best among Indonesian universities in the Social Sciences category, in which it ranks 18th. UGM in Art and Humanities, in which it ranks 14th, and Life Science and Medicine, in which it secures 16th place.

ITB is Indonesia's best performer in Engineering and Information Technology category, in which it ranks 21st; and in Natural Science with 27th place.

The results of the 2009 QS.com Asian University Rankings can be looked at at www.topuniversities.com.

The ranking measures academic peer review, recruiter review, student/faculty ratio, papers per faculty, citations per paper, international faculty review, international students review, and student exchanges inbound and outbound of universities across Asia.