UNIMALNEWS | Lhokseumawe – Universitas Malikussaleh (Unimal) was ranked second in Indonesia according to Scimago Institutions Rankings 2020. Scimago Institutions Rankings measures the quality of academic and research-related institutions based on three indicators, namely research performance (50 percent), innovation output (30 percent), and societal impact (20 percent). Of the three aspects, there are several criteria used with different values in each criterion. 

Universitas Malikussaleh, which is named after the first ruler of Samudra Pasai Kingdom, Malikussaleh, is placed below Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati which takes the top spot. Universitas Sumatera Utara was ranked third in the list, followed by Universitas Negeri Makassar, and Universitas Negeri Medan in the fourth and the fifth place.
Some other leading universities in Indonesia listed in the top 20 include University of Indonesia (ranked 6th), Universitas Diponegoro (ranked 8th), Bogor Agricultural University (ranked 9th), Gadjah Mada University (ranked 11th), and Bandung Institute  of  Technology (ranked 12th). In addition to Universitas Malikussaleh, Syiah Kuala University is another university in Aceh which was listed in the top 20 (ranked 17th) along with several other universities in Sumatra.

The Rector of Universitas Malikussaleh, Dr. Herman Fithra states that the success was achieved due to the good synergy between the civitas academica at Unimal in the field of research, innovation, and publication through various media. According to him, the assessment by Scimago Institution Rankings was carried out based on performance in 2019 and the results were announced in 2020. With this achievement, he hopes that Unimal community — especially lecturers and students can improve their performance in research and innovation in the near future.

According to the assessments done last year by the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education, Unimal’s performance in the field of research has improved tremendously. Previously ranked in the 300s, it is now ranked 58th out of the 1977 universities in Indonesia. With this achievement, Unimal has made it into the Main Cluster along with other 145 institutions.[kur]