Rankings

After entering the 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings in the 401 to 500 band, UBD rose to the 351-400 band this year. Among Asian universities, UBD places 60th and for universities under 50 years old, it ranks 80th. This makes UBD the fourth ranked university in ASEAN in one of the most influential university rankings in the world, confirming its status as an institution that is internationally recognized for excellence in teaching and research.

UBD has also shown a steady rise up the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings. It currently ranks at 254 in the latest release, 44 places from last year’s 298. In all the indicators which include Academic reputation, Employer Reputation, Faculty-Student Ratio, Citations Per Faculty, International Faculty, and International Students, UBD has shown marked improvements. UBD is now ranked 75th QS Asia University Ranking and ranked 22nd among universities founded less than 50 years ago.

Research plays an unprecedented role in improving the reputation of an academic institution. The QS University Rankings also measures research productivity as part of its rankings exercise. Since 2011, research activity at UBD has increased exponentially, with the number of papers being published growing every year and having more than tripled over the last 5 years.

Research at UBD continues to be driven by national relevance, with emphasis on innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives and frameworks. Such initiatives are made possible through UBD’s active networks and engagement with industry players to ensure its research and teachings are relevant to the needs of the market.

In the last three years, UBD has filed over 40 patents through its Innovation and Enterprise Office, eight of which have been granted both in Brunei and internationally. UBD aims to leverage on its comparative niche advantages and major research projects in biodiversity, herbal medicine, halal products, Islamic governance and energy are ongoing, all of which are of particular interest nationally and are expected to have global impact.