Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has once again recorded an outstanding achievement in the QS World University Rankings (WUR) by Subject 2026. In the field of Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies, UGM has reached 45th place globally, improving from last year’s position in the 51-100 range.
This achievement also places UGM first in Indonesia, followed by Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Maulana Malik Ibrahim, Malang, and Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, all ranked in the 101–150 range worldwide.
UGM’s rise to 45th place globally reaffirms the success of its Theology, Divinity, and Religious Studies programs in consistently maintaining and improving academic quality and global reputation amid increasingly intense competition at both national and international levels.
Dean of UGM Graduate School, Professor Siti Malkhamah, expressed her gratitude for this achievement. She noted this success motivate to continue improving quality in the future, while also strengthening confidence in UGM as a world-class university.
“I believe this achievement is encouraging and motivates us to become even better moving forward, while also strengthening our confidence that UGM is a world-class university,” she said in an interview on Wednesday (Apr. 8).
According to Professor Malkhamah, the interdisciplinary approach that characterizes the UGM Graduate School has strengthened its competitiveness in global rankings. Various study programs are organized across disciplines, involving lecturers from diverse faculties and supported by national and international partner networks.
Contributions to the field of Theology, Divinity, and Religious Studies come from the Master’s Program in Religion and Cross-Cultural Studies (ALB), the Doctoral Program in Inter-Religious Studies (IRS), and the Doctoral Program in Islamic Economics and Halal Industry, all of which consistently develop academic and research collaborations. These three programs serve as the main drivers in enhancing academic reputation at the global level.
“The Graduate School offers interdisciplinary programs with reputable lecturers from various fields and collaborates with partners in implementing the Tri Dharma of Higher Education,” she explained.
The interdisciplinary approach developed by the UGM Graduate School has also strengthened performance indicators in the QS WUR by Subject ranking. Compared to the previous year, research-based indicators showed significant improvement, with citations per paper increasing from 82 to 83.3, and the H-index, previously at 51, now reflected more strongly in the latest score of 77.5. In addition, the academic reputation indicator scored 67.6, while the employer reputation scored 66.9.
“This improvement shows that not only is research productivity strengthening, but international recognition of the institution and its study programs is also increasing,” she said.
Head of the IRS Program at UGM, Agus Wahyudi, stated that the improved ranking within the world’s top 100 is driven by a combination of strengthened academic reputation and research productivity indicators.
Regarding academic reputation, he explained that the IRS UGM is one of the leading centers for interfaith studies in the Global South. Its strengths are supported by a dialogical and contextual approach, as well as the relevance of its studies to global issues such as political polarization, religious freedom, digital inclusion, and environmental challenges.
Regarding citations per paper, Agus noted that many publications by IRS faculty have appeared in reputable journals and are widely cited, particularly on themes that intersect with global issues such as religion, democracy, and peace.
“As a result, the IRS Program at UGM is not only recognized but also widely referenced. This combination has been key to the ranking increase from the previous year,” he said.
He emphasized that this achievement did not occur by chance. It is the result of targeted strategies focused on publications in internationally reputable Scopus-indexed journals, particularly in the Q1 and Q2 quartiles, with themes including pluralism, religious conflict, and social justice. These efforts are supported by international research collaborations, which expand visibility and accelerate global citation growth.
In addition, strengthening a research culture based on strategic issues has encouraged more significant scholarly contributions to global discourse.
“The IRS focus is not only on increasing the number of publications, but also on enhancing the ‘citation impact’ of knowledge, from local to global references,” he explained.
Looking ahead, he emphasized that IRS UGM will not focus solely on rankings but on strengthening scholarly impact. This will be pursued through deeper contributions to global issues such as peace, diversity, and social justice, the improvement of the quality of internationally reputable publications, and the expansion of international academic networks. He expressed hope that the IRS Program at UGM can break into the world’s top 30 in the coming years, with such achievement positioned as the result of strengthened scholarly impact.
“IRS does not pursue rankings alone, but relevance both domestically and globally. From there, rankings will follow,” he concluded.
Author: Cyntia Noviana
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Jasmine
Photo: UGM Public Relations and Graduate School Documentation