KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian universities have made it to the top 50 in this year’s QS World University Rankings by subjects, compared with just one last year, global higher education research and rankings outfit QS Quacquarelli Symonds said.

Universiti Malaya (UM) is placed 32nd in the top 50 universities for development studies, while Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) slid three places from last year to 31st for environmental sciences.

The rankings by subjects also include 10 local universities within the global top 200.

They are UM (23 subjects), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) (19), USM (18), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) (16), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) (10), Universiti Teknologi Petronas (4), Universiti Teknologi Mara (3), Multimedia University (2), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn (1) and Universiti Utara Malaysia (1).

Five Malaysian universities also appear within the top 100 of the disciplines ranked, with UM again leading the pack with appearances in seven subjects, followed by USM (6), UKM (2), UTM (2) and UPM (1).

UM is featured in the top 100 for development studies; mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering; electrical and electronic engineering; chemical engineering; linguistics; English language and literature; and architecture/built environment.

USM is listed in the top 100 for environmental sciences; chemical engineering; mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering; electrical and electronic engineering; development studies; and architecture/built environment.

UPM is also included in the top 100 for agriculture and forestry, while UTM is in the top 100 for chemical engineering and architecture/built environment.

Within the top 150, UTM features in mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering; electrical and electronic engineering; and civil and structural engineering.

“There are ups and downs for Malaysia in this year’s QS World University Rankings by subjects,” said QS head of research Ben Sowter.

“While it has in part been down to extended ranges in some subjects, the number of Malaysian institutions represented has increased from six to 10, with a strong showing in some of the newly introduced subjects such as architecture and development studies, in each of which three Malaysian institutions appear in the top 100.” — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 30, 2015.