College of Science and Mathematics

UP breaks into top 500 in world rankings, 2019

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in News

London-based magazine Times Higher Education (THE) has placed the University of the Philippines in the world’s top 500 universities and fourth in the ASEAN region, according to the 2020 THE World University Rankings.The national university is listed in the 401-500 group of 1,396 ranked research universities.

This is UP’s fourth year in the rankings. It was included for the first time in 2017 among the top 1,000. The succeeding rankings showed marked improvement for UP as it climbed to the top 800 in the 2018 edition and to the top 600 for 2019.

THE assesses research-intensive universities based on 13 performance indicators in five pillars: teaching (30 percent), research (30 percent), research influence/citations (30 percent), international outlook (7.5 percent) and industry income (2.5 percent).

For 2020, UP has been ranked 159th in citations which places it in the top 11 percent of prestigious universities that have “influence in spreading new knowledge and ideas.” Its score in citations went up from last year’s 69.1 to 86.9. As indicator of research influence, 'citations' refers to the average number of times a university’s published work is cited by scholars globally. This year, THE's bibliometric data supplier Elsevier examined 77.4 million citations to 12.8 million journal articles, article reviews, conference proceedings, books and book chapters published over five years. The data include more than 23,400 academic journals indexed by Elsevier’s Scopus database and all indexed publications between 2014 and 2018. Citations to these publications made in the six years from 2014 to 2019 are also collected.

UP also scored better in teaching (from 21.7 to 24.1), research (from 16.4 to 17.2) and industry income (from 35.8 to 39.4). A global academic reputation survey partly determines the scores for teaching and research.UP, however, slipped in international outlook, with its score down from 39.5 to 37.9. International outlook considers the number of international students and staff as well as international collaboration.Only two universities from the Philippines appeared in the latest table. UP is still the leading university in the country.

THE publishes some of the most influential rankings used by the global academic community which include the Asia University Rankings, Asia-Pacific University Rankings, Emerging Economies University Rankings, World University Rankings by Subject and Impact Rankings.

Ambassador Fries' tour of CSM, 2019

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in News

HONORABLE HARALD FRIES, Ambassador of Sweden to the Philippines, took a tour of the UP Mindanao campus on 30 April 2019 on the second day of the Floorball Program in the campus. He was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Susan Fries, Atty. Leo Dominguez, founding chairperson of the Philippines-Sweden Business Council, and Ms. Charlene Balaan, embassy communications officer. The visitors were guided by vice-chancellors Nilo Oponda and Aurelia Luz Gomez.

The group started with a visit to the College of Science and Mathematics where they were welcomed by Dean Dominica Dacera and College Secretary Dr. Ritchie Mae Gamot. They were joined by the department chairpersons, professors Leo Manuel Estaña, Cleto Nañola Jr., and Juma Novie Alviola. Ambassador Fries made a brief stop at the biology dispensing room to view the equipment. Continuing onward, Prof. Nañola gave a walking briefing about the projects of the Dept. of Biological Science and Environmental Studies. At the Drug Discovery Laboratory, Prof. Joel Hassan Tolentino talked about their ongoing research for a cure to lung cancer. At the Fermentation Lab, Prof. Alviola gave a briefing on the research on sago flour and the other flours of the Dept. of Food Science and Chemistry. At the Geo-SAFER flood hazard mapping project, Supervisor Gus Oguis presented the maps and Project Leader Joseph Acosta added to the conversation.

At the DC-UP Sports Complex, the group was met by Dept. of Human Kinetics chairperson Prof. Erwin Protacio at the Human Kinetics Gym, where they observed a volleyball game of the Palarong Pambansa before a jampacked crowd. The ambassador pointed out to Prof. Protacio how the gym was ideal for playing floorball. A team of female volleyballers trotted by and chanted "Magandang umaga, Mabuhay" in unison, to the delight of the ambassador. The ambassador also visited the football field and the Aquatic Center.

The group returned to the Administration Building where they were met by Chancellor Larry Digal. They watched the on-going floorball game at the Atrium supervised by Mr. Saldio Amador. At the second floor, Prof. Armando Salazar showed the model of the Sports Complex which triggered a discussion between Ambassador Fries, floorball coach Peter Eriksson, and Chancellor Digal.

After lunch, the ambassador spent time signing the certificates for the participants of the floorball program. In his closing remarks, Ambassador Fries expressed his appreciation for the welcome and accommodation they received and that he looked forward to coming back to UP Mindanao.

College of Science and Mathematics

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