TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In a historic first for the 2026 QS World University Rankings (WUR) by Subject, University of Indonesia (UI) has seen its academic disciplines successfully enter all five broad subject categories: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences & Management, Engineering & Technology, Life Sciences & Medicine, and Natural Sciences.
"This achievement marks improvement from the previous year, which only covered four broad subjects," stated UI Rector Heri Hermansyah in a written statement received on Friday, April 3, 2026.
Heri emphasized that this accomplishment demonstrates UI's dominance at the national level and strengthens its position as a major force in Southeast Asia. He noted that the university is at a crucial juncture where its foundation as a national leader is solid, while its foothold as a regional power in Southeast Asia is beginning to take definitive shape.
"The next challenge is to accelerate the leap toward a group of universities with stronger global influence," Heri said.
To achieve this, Heri continued, there is a pressing need to drive more fields of study to break into the Top 3 in Southeast Asia and gradually enter the top 100 worldwide.
"These efforts heavily rely on strengthening research quality, expanding international collaboration, and increasing high-impact publications with global reach," Heri explained.
According to the youngest professor at the UI Faculty of Engineering, who was inaugurated on June 19, 2013, at the age of 37, this strategy is designed to balance specific excellence with an equitability of quality.
"Thus, the transformation toward a world-class research university is not just a vision, but an ongoing and increasingly targeted process," Heri said.
Records show that UI has improved its rankings across all broad subjects. The Social Sciences & Management cluster is now ranked 146th globally, up from 176th the previous year.
There has also been a rise in the Arts & Humanities rankings, which now sit at 168th (up from 190), Life Sciences & Medicine at 281st (up from 331st), and a significant jump for Engineering & Technology to 262nd (up from 368th). Meanwhile, Natural Sciences has entered the global ranking list for the first time, placing in the 451-500 bracket.
Furthermore, UI secured the top rank in Indonesia across three broad subjects, namely Arts & Humanities, Life Sciences & Medicine, and Social Sciences & Management, all of which now sit within the Top 10 in Southeast Asia.
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