Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) was ranked the top university in Malaysia in joint position with Universiti Putra Malaysia according to the Times Higher Education’s inaugural Asia-Pacific University Ranking 2017. The ranking came from the analysis of thousands of universities across 38 different nations in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania, which includes prestigious universities from Australia and New Zealand.

The ranking uses the same performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings 2016-17. However the weightings are specially recalibrated to reflect the priorities of institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, making it a more accurate indicator of the dynamism of the rapidly growing higher education market in the region.

The performance indicators are grouped into five areas: Teaching (the learning environment), Research (volume, income and reputation), Citations (research influence), International outlook (staff, students and research), and Industry income (knowledge transfer).

For UTM to have attained the highest joint rank in Malaysia at 121-130 is an achievement that is largely attributed to the strong commitment by UTM faculty members, staff and students, and reflects the motto of the Malaysian Ministry of Education “Soaring Upwards”.