The University of the Philippines (UP) has made it to the top 500 top universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020.

UP is placed in the 401-500 rank which is higher compared to their 501 to 600 rank in 2019 World University Rankings .

The university outranked top schools like Harvard University, University of Oxford and the University of Stanford in health research citation rankings.

READ: UP beats Harvard, other top universities in health research citations

In a statement the World University Rankings said that global higher education has grown considerably in recent years.

“Between 2000 and 2014, the number of university students across the world more than doubled to 207 million,” according to their statement which cited a paper published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

Meanwhile, De La Salle University also made it to the top rankings, placing at 1001+.—AAC

Students of the University of the Philippines (UP) walked out of their classrooms Tuesday to condemn what they claim as campus militarization in their school.

Wearing black, the students stepped out of their classes at past 11 with placards in hand.

They call this day the “National Day of Walkout”, pointing out that the police and the military are meddling with the affairs of the school.

The students said the campus militarization is curtailing their academic freedom.

Read: PNP denies alleged militarization of campuses

“Hindi po namin papayagan na pumasok ang AFP at PNP lalo na si Senador Bato at Duterte sa aming pamantasan dahil nakikita namin na wala silang puwang o agenda upang i-address ang mga bitbit naming panawagan [We will not allow the AFP and the PNP, especially Senator Bato and Duterte to enter our university because we know that they have no agenda to address our petitions],” said UP student Rachiel Villamor.

Several UP professors also joined the walkout.

“Alamin at kumilos na ipaglaban ang tingin nila ay tama. Yan ang itinuturo namin sa classroom. Yan ang ibig sabihin ng pagiging edukador. At magagawa yan hindi lang sa loob ng classroom. Magagawa yan kahit sa labas kahit sa lansangan [Know and act to fight what they think is correct. That is what we teach in the classroom. That is what a teacher is all about. And we can do that not only in the classrooms. We can do that even in the streets],” said Josephine Dionisio, chairperson of UP Department of Sociology.

Aside from the campus in Diliman, the National Day of Walkout was also observed in other UP campuses in the country. (from the report of Mon Jocson) /mbmf

The University of the Philippines (UP) has beaten Harvard University and other world’s top universities in health research citation rankings.

UP ranked seventh place, outranking even University of Oxford and the University of Stanford.

UP garnered a score of 98.8 for clinical and preclinical health research citations in the 2019 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

Harvard University ranked 37th place with a score of 87.4, University of Oxford is in 17th place with 92.7, while University of Stanford scored 92.1.

According to the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), the citation scores indicate the number of times a research has been cited in other research outputs.

“The score serves as an indicator of the impact or influence of a research project which other researchers use as reference from which they can build on succeeding breakthroughs or innovations,” according to their statement.—AAC