Mount Kenya University is steadily scaling the heights of academic research and innovation excellence, gaining recognition as being among the top institutions of higher learning locally and abroad.
The university has been ranked among the top 10 best universities and the second-best private university in the country out of the 124 universities, according to Webometrics global universities ranking.
In the continent, MKU ranks at position 258 out of more than 2,000 universities and 151 among the 1,393 colleges in the Sub-Saharan region.
Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof. Deogratius Jaganyi attributed the university’s steady progress to the academic programmes they offer as well as the research projects commissioned and completed.
“The ranking is a true reflection of the efforts that the university has put towards enhancing teaching and learning, research and innovations,” said the VC.
He added that the ranking has improved due to the growth in the number of external networks of their research projects (subnets) linking to the institution’s webpages.
He said the institution has also gained mileage on the transparency and openness ranking due to the presence of top-cited researchers and increasing citations from the top 210 authors due to increased investment in research and innovation.
He also cited the growth in top cited papers from its scholars, ranking it amongst the top 10 percent most cited in each one of the 27 disciplines of the full database.
The University Deputy VC, Academic and Research, Dr. Mercyline Kamande, attributed the growth in research and innovation to the continued mentorship and training of postgraduate students.
She said 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.
“Since the establishment of a college of postgraduate studies where scholars write publications, we have seen a tremendous improvement in research and innovation,” said the VC.
Additionally, MKU Medical School is ranked as 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. MKU has gradually grown to be a respected brand. We top the list of science-offering private higher education institutions, according to CPS International,” Dr. Kamande said.
By Muoki Charles
