OUM bags the Silver Medal Best Paper Awards at Tianjin, China.

The OUM delegation were all smiles when the university won the Silver Medal Best Paper Award for e-Mathematics during the 22nd Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) Annual Conference held recently in Tianjin, China. The paper was presented by Prof Mansor Fadzil, Senior Vice President and was co-written by Dr. Richard Ng, Prof Abtar Kaur, Prof Latifah Abdol Latif, Ramli Bahroom and Siti Farina Sheilh Mohamed. The fact that the paper was on e-Mathematics and their impact on students online participation and final exam score, clearly indicates that OUM’s e-learning in mathematics are of international standards.

Once again, congratulations to the OUM team, especially Dr Richard Ng, the director of Perak Learning Centre. All of you have made the university proud.

Minister receives his PhD in Communication from UPM - NST

Serdang: Oct 18, 2008

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was among the graduands today at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) 32nd convocation.

He received a PhD in Communication, making him Malaysia’s first cabinet minister to complete a doctorate while in service.

Ahmad Zahid said his seven-year effort to complete his thesis while carrying out his government duties proved the perception of some quarters that a post-graduate qualification for people like him could be bought from the local universities was wrong.

“I had to rush here and there to complete my assignments which had deadlines, and sometimes I had to make changes when my research presentation was rejected by the evaluation panel. But that did not stop me from completing my doctorate,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said UPM was not a university that printed and sold degrees, and that regardless of status, the students were required to be committed and produce the best or high-quality scholastic work.

At today’s convocation, UPM also conferred on Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan an honorary PhD in Economics which was presented to him by UPM chancellor, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

The Chancellor’s Gold Award went to Aini Marina Ma’rof who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Education, the Royal Education Award for Bumiputeras to Faizura Rohaizad (Guidance and Counselling) and for non-Bumiputeras, to Yap Wing Fen who obtained a Science degree.

The Alumni Gold Award was won by Business Administration graduand Lee In Thing, Pak Rashid Foundation Gold Award by A’fifah Abdul Razak (Agriculture Science) and the Syed Kechik Award by Ahmad Zamri Alimin (Human Resource Development).

During the five-day convocation starting today, 7,846 graduands receive their diplomas and degrees.

UM's Ranking Improves To 230th Position In The-Qs World University Ranking 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama)

University of Malaya's (UM) ranking improved to 230th position in this year's The Times Higher Education (THE)-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking from 246th place previously.

Its Acting Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Muhamad Rasat Muhamad said the position showed that UM's strategic plan which was implemented two years ago under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Datuk Rafiah Salim and the excellent support of the staff was bearing fruit.

Muhamad Rasat in a statement here today said the university fully supported the Ministry of Higher Education in realising the national aspiration of having one or more of Malaysia's universities in the top 200 of the THE ranking by 2010.

-- BERNAMA

Top 100 Universities Ranking 2008 - TIMES

The Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings identified these to be the world's top 100 universities in 2008. These institutions represent 20 countries with Israel represented for the first time. Whilst North America dominates with 42 universities, Europe and Asia Pacific are well represented with 36 and 22 respectively.

2008 Rank School Name Country

1 HARVARD University United States
2 YALE University United States
3 University of CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom
4 University of OXFORD United Kingdom
5 CALIFORNIA Institute of Technology (Calt... United States
6 IMPERIAL College London United Kingdom
7 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom
8 University of CHICAGO United States
9 MASSACHUSETTS Institute of Technology (M... United States
10 COLUMBIA University United States
11 University of PENNSYLVANIA United States
12 PRINCETON University United States
13= DUKE University United States
13= JOHNS HOPKINS University United States
15 CORNELL University United States
16 AUSTRALIAN National University Australia
17 STANFORD University United States
18 University of MICHIGAN United States
19 University of TOKYO Japan
20 MCGILL University Canada
21 CARNEGIE MELLON University United States
22 KING'S College London United Kingdom
23 University of EDINBURGH United Kingdom
24 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of T... Switzerland
25 KYOTO University Japan
26 University of HONG KONG Hong Kong
27 BROWN University United States
28 École Normale Supérieure, PARIS France
29 University of MANCHESTER United Kingdom
30= National University of SINGAPORE(NUS) Singapore
30= University of CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles (U... United States
32 University of BRISTOL United Kingdom
33 NORTHWESTERN University United States
34= ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE France
34= University of BRITISH COLUMBIA Canada
36 University of California, BERKELEY United States
37 The University of SYDNEY Australia
38 The University of MELBOURNE Australia
39 HONG KONG University of Science & Techno... Hong Kong
40 NEW YORK University (NYU) United States
41 University of TORONTO Canada
42 The CHINESE University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
43 University of QUEENSLAND Australia
44 OSAKA University Japan
45 University of NEW SOUTH WALES Australia
46 BOSTON University United States
47 MONASH University Australia
48 University of COPENHAGEN Denmark
49 TRINITY College Dublin Ireland
50= Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de LAUSANNE... Switzerland
50= PEKING University China
50= SEOUL National University Korea, South
53 University of AMSTERDAM Netherlands
54 DARTMOUTH College United States
55 University of WISCONSIN-Madison United States
56 TSINGHUA University China
57 HEIDELBERG Universität Germany
58 University of CALIFORNIA, San Diego United States
59 University of WASHINGTON United States
60 WASHINGTON University in St. Louis United States
61 TOKYO Institute of Technology Japan
62 EMORY University United States
63 UPPSALA University Sweden
64 LEIDEN University Netherlands
65 The University of AUCKLAND New Zealand
66 LONDON School of Economics and Political... United Kingdom
67 UTRECHT University Netherlands
68 University of GENEVA Switzerland
69 University of WARWICK United Kingdom
70 University of TEXAS at Austin United States
71 University of ILLINOIS United States
72 Katholieke Universiteit LEUVEN Belgium
73 University of GLASGOW United Kingdom
74 University of ALBERTA Canada
75 University of BIRMINGHAM United Kingdom
76 University of SHEFFIELD United Kingdom
77 NANYANG Technological University Singapore
78= DELFT University of Technology Netherlands
78= RICE University United States
78= Technische Universität MÜNCHEN Germany
81= University of AARHUS Denmark
81= University of YORK United Kingdom
83= GEORGIA Institute of Technology United States
83= The University of WESTERN AUSTRALIA Australia
83= University of ST ANDREWS United Kingdom
86 University of NOTTINGHAM United Kingdom
87 University of MINNESOTA United States
88 LUND University Sweden
89 University of CALIFORNIA, Davis United States
90 CASE WESTERN RESERVE University United States
91= Université de Montréal Canada
91= University of HELSINKI Finland
93= Hebrew University of JERUSALEM Israel
93= Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Germany
95 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Scie... Korea, South
96 University of VIRGINIA United States
97 University of PITTSBURGH United States
98 University of CALIFORNIA, Santa Barbara United States
99= PURDUE University United States
99= University of SOUTHAMPTON United Kingdom
101 VANDERBILT University United States
102= University of NORTH CAROLINA United States
102= University of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA United States
104 University of LEEDS United Kingdom
105 PENNSYLVANIA STATE University United States
106= University of ADELAIDE Australia
106= University of ZURICH Switzerland
108 University College DUBLIN Ireland
109 TECHNION - Israel Institute of Technolog... Israel
110 GEORGETOWN University United States
111 MAASTRICHT University Netherlands
112 TOHOKU University Japan
113 FUDAN University China
114 TEL AVIV University Israel
115 University of VIENNA Austria
116 Université catholique de LOUVAIN (UCL) Belgium
117= MCMASTER University Canada
117= QUEEN'S University Canada
119 University of ROCHESTER United States
120 NAGOYA University Japan
121 OHIO STATE University United States
122= DURHAM University United Kingdom
122= University of MARYLAND United States
124= National TAIWAN University Taiwan
124= University of OTAGO New Zealand
126 ERASMUS University Rotterdam Netherlands
127 STONY BROOK University United States
128 EINDHOVEN University of Technology Netherlands
129 University of WATERLOO Canada
130 University of SUSSEX United Kingdom
131 University of BASEL Switzerland
132 University of CALIFORNIA, Irvine United States
133= CARDIFF University United Kingdom
133= Technical University of DENMARK Denmark
133= University of LIVERPOOL United Kingdom
136 University of GHENT Belgium
137= Freie Universität BERLIN Germany
137= TEXAS A&M University United States
139 HUMBOLDT-Universität zu Berlin Germany
140 Ecole normale supérieure de LYON France
141 University of Science and Technology of ... China
142 WAGENINGEN University Netherlands
143 NANJING University China
144= SHANGHAI JIAO TONG University China
144= University of GRONINGEN Netherlands
146 University of ARIZONA United States
147= CITY University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
147= Universität FREIBURG Germany
149 Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie PARIS V... France
150 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México ... Mexico
151 RUTGERS, The State University of New Jer... United States
152 University of BATH United Kingdom
153 University of ABERDEEN United Kingdom
154 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (II... India
155= Eberhard Karls Universität TÜBINGEN Germany
155= VU University AMSTERDAM Netherlands
157 TUFTS University United States
158 KYUSHU University Japan
159 The University of WESTERN ONTARIO Canada
160 QUEEN MARY, University of London United Kingdom
161 University of LAUSANNE Switzerland
162= CHALMERS University of Technology Sweden
162= NEWCASTLE University, NEWCASTLE Upon Tyn... United Kingdom
164 SIMON FRASER University Canada
165 University of FLORIDA United States
166= CHULALONGKORN University Thailand
166= Universität GÖTTINGEN Germany
168 University of NOTRE DAME United States
169 Universität FRANKFURT am Main Germany
170= INDIANA University Bloomington United States
170= University of CALGARY Canada
170= University of LANCASTER United Kingdom
173 KTH, ROYAL Institute of Technology Sweden
174= HOKKAIDO University Japan
174= Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (I... India
174= RENSSELAER Polytechnic Institute United States
177= University of LEICESTER United Kingdom
177= University of OSLO Norway
179 University of CAPE TOWN South Africa
180= University of COLORADO at Boulder United States
180= WASEDA University Japan
182 MACQUARIE University Australia
183= Lomonosov MOSCOW STATE University Russia
183= Université Libre de BRUXELLES (ULB) Belgium
185 BRANDEIS University United States
186= University of BARCELONA Spain
186= University of CANTERBURY New Zealand
188= POHANG University of Science and Technol... Korea, South
188= Technische Universität BERLIN Germany
190 Universität STUTTGART Germany
191 University of MASSACHUSETTS, Amherst United States
192= University of BERN Switzerland
192= University of BOLOGNA Italy
194 University of READING United Kingdom
195 University of ANTWERP Belgium
196 University of SAO PAULO Brazil
197= DALHOUSIE University Canada
197= University of BUENOS AIRES Argentina
199 KOBE University Japan
200= University of ATHENS Greece

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds (www.topuniversities.com)
Copyright © 2004-2008 QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd.

Khaled hails achievement, believes better results to come - Star

Oct 10, 2008 By SIMRIT KAUR

Malaysia’s top local universities’ improved ranking in the Times Higher Education-QS (THE-QS) World University Rankings 2008 is an achievement to be proud of, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

“It is something to be proud of that a number of Malaysian institutions have attained such high positions in the rankings. I believe that our local universities will improve even further in the years to come,’’ he told The Star.

Asked about the drop of the ranking of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) from 307 to 313 despite its status as an apex (accelerated programme for excellence) university, Khaled said the criteria used for the rankings and the apex programme were different.

“In the apex university, we are looking to the future and choosing a university that is the most capable of being transformed and becoming world-class in 10 to 15 years,” he said.

USM deputy vice-chancellor (Aca­demic and International Affairs) Prof Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal said the university would scrutinise the data to see the reason for its drop.

“I am from the school of thought that the rankings are useful but not absolute,” he said.

Acting Universiti Malaya (UM) vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Muhamad Rasat Muhamad said UM’s improved showing proved that the university’s strategic plan, implemented two years ago, was showing results.

“UM fully supports the ministry in realising the national aspiration of having one or more of Malaysia’s universities in the top 200 of the THE-QS ranking by 2010,” he said.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shaha­budin said the improvement in the ranking was a collective effort.

“We have worked very hard by consolidating our research, publishing our work, having more international collaborations and monitoring the number of citations per month,” she said.

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Nik Mustapha Raja Abdullah said UPM improved by overcoming weaknesses identified through analyses of the previous years’ results.

“There have been improvements in several areas including the number of papers published in high impact journals, increase in citations and aggressive internationalisation programmes,” he said.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang said the university had improved in three of the six criteria used to compile the rankings.