Legacy of FIBO
King Mongkut University ranked in 351-400 band on debut in Times Higher Education rankings
King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi is the only Thai educational institution to figure among the top 400 universities, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-13.
Leading universities from across Asia have made significant improvements in their rankings. Universities from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan have gained ground, the traditional powerhouses the US and UK have seen serious declines. China’s massive investment in developing world-class higher education is paying off, according to Times Higher Education (THE).
The California Institute of Technology holds on to its top spot, while Harvard was pushed into fourth place by Oxford and Stanford, which share second place.
“This is the first year that KMUTT has participated in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It has made it into the top-400 list as it has achieved very good scores in the indicator Citation Impact,” Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education World University Rankings, told The Nation yesterday. KMUTT is in the 351-400 ranking band.
“KMUTT has the most research papers per head in Thailand. I’m glad KMUTT is featured in the world rankings after our lecturers conducted lots of quality research projects. We will continue promoting more research projects,” said Assoc Professor Sakarindr Bhumiratana, president of KMUTT.
“Our international rankings are getting better. KMUTT was ranked 352 in the QS World University Rankings 2012 in engineering and IT and in the 161-170 band in the QS Asian University Rankings. We were ranked 1,293 in the Scimago Institutions Rankings 2012,” he said.
Last year, Mahidol University was ranked in the 351-400 band.
“The Times Higher Education World University Rankings works on a voluntary basis, following an invitation submitted to the individual institutions by the Times Higher Education’s data provider, Thomson Reuters.
“We are delighted that six Thai institutions took part this year. This is an important global exercise and we would like to encourage more institutions to work with us so that an even clearer picture of higher education in Thailand can be formed, allowing Thailand to create a better benchmark for itself against the world’s very best,” Baty said.
Mahidol and Chulalongkorn have been taking part in the THE World University Rankings since 2010. KMUTT, Chiang Mai, Kasetsart and Thammasat all participated for the first time this year, he said.
The five main groups of indicators are, teaching – the learning environment (worth 30 per cent of the overall score), research – volume, income and reputation (30 per cent), citations – research influence (30 per cent), international outlook – staff, students and research (7.5 per cent) and industry income – innovation (2.5 per cent).
The annual THE rankings were published online at www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/.
Source: http://www2.kmutt.ac.th/news/newsdetail.aspx?ref=201201001465
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Only-1-Thai-varsity-in-top-400-30191666.html
