Mount Kenya University's stellar performance in the recent rankings is due to its huge investment in research and innovations, council chairman Dr Vincent Gaitho has said.
He said the university is steadily becoming a hub for innovations through quality teaching, research and community service in the country and across the continent.
In Africa, MKU has been ranked position 258 out of more than 2,000 universities. The private university improved from position 16 to 10 out of 124 institutions ranked in Kenya. In sub-Saharan ranking, MKU jumped from position 177 to 151 among the 1,393 colleges in the rankings released last week by Webometrics.
“The ranking is a true reflection of the efforts that the university has put towards enhancing teaching and learning, research and innovations,” vice chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi said. “The university organised a research and innovation week last year where staff disseminated their research findings.”
Overall, the University of Nairobi has retained the top slot in Kenya while Strathmore University is the best private university, according to Webometrics.
Other leading institutions in Kenya include Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenyatta University, Egerton, Moi, Maseno, Technical University of Kenya and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
This year, MKU has also been ranked as a top performing institution of higher learning by Unirank and Edurank after improving from position 6,318 to 5,437 out of 32,140 institutions in the world. This put MKU in the top 19 per cent in the global rankings by the two institutions.
Congratulating the university leadership, management, faculty and entire institution on the morale-boosting achievements, Prof Jaganyi said the ranking has improved due to the growth in the number of external networks linking to the institution's webpages.
On this index, the college improved from position eight to three due to increased partnerships and linkages.
MKU has also gained mileage on transparency and openness ranking due to top cited researchers and increasing citations from the top 210 authors due to increased investment in research and innovation.
The institution has also seen growth in top cited papers from its scholars, ranking amongst the top 10 per cent most cited in each one of the 27 disciplines of the full database.
Further, there has been improvement in publications and promotion of research culture in the university following establishment of the College of Graduate Studies and Research as a centre of excellence.
MKU deputy vice chancellor for academics and research Dr Mercyline Kamande applauded the faculty for their tireless mentorship and training of postgraduate students who have embraced research and innovation as a driver to sustainable development.
“The university will continue implementing different strategies that will ensure holistic student growth by mentoring innovators who upon graduation will become job creators or venture into gainful employment and wealth creation opportunities,” she said.
MKU Medical School is ranked is the leading training institution among medical schools in East Africa, according to EAC Partner States Medical Practitioners Boards and Councils.
“Students choose to study at MKU because it is among the top-ranked universities nationally and regionally,” Dr Kamande said.