Carlos Hilado Memorial State University (CHMSU) has secured a place among the world’s most innovative institutions, ranking 253rd globally in the 2026 World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI).
This places CHMSU firmly within the Global Top 500 Innovative Universities, a recognition that goes beyond academic metrics to honor institutions creating meaningful, real-world impact through research, ethics, and community engagement.
The university also broke into the Top 100 in four specific innovation categories, competing alongside major research institutions across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
CHMSU ranked 17th for Crisis Management, 45th for Ethics and Integrity, 51st in Industrial Application, and 98th in Interdisciplinary, Convergent, and Integrated Research, it said in a press release May 6.
Its highest-ranked crisis management category is due to programs that protect the most vulnerable, including “Project PDL: Pagdating ng Sakuna, Dapat Tayo Laging Handa — A Capacity-Building Training Program for Persons Deprived of Liberty”, that trained 250 PDLs at the BJMP Talisay City Jail in disaster preparedness and basic life support, establishing a peer-led first responder team inside the facility;
The “Bottle-Net Life Jacket: A Lifeline from Floating Waste”, developed by the team led by Engr. Rey Ramos, is a flotation device made from fishnets and recycled plastic bottles that costs 75 percent less than commercial alternatives, providing affordable emergency equipment for coastal families; and the “Solid Waste Management System with Technological Opportunities: Integrated Crisis Management and Technological Innovation Framework for Community Resilience and Sustainable Development”, with over 100,000 beneficiaries across Negros Island.
The university ranked 45th for the “Ethics Program: Operationalizing Research Ethics (Ethics Trail to Hone Integrity of CHMSU Scholars)”, which institutionalizes research ethics governance aligned with the 2022 National Ethical Guidelines for Research Involving Human Participants; and 51st in industrial application for the “Solar Power Assembly Trainer (SPAT): Building Solar Power Competence Across Schools and Communities”, a portable, research-validated teaching tool for solar energy competencies, as well as for the “Acceptability of a 3-Sectioned Spelling and Vocabulary Instructional Board in the English Performance of Students”, which achieved very high acceptability ratings across usability, durability, aesthetics, and educational value among pedagogy specialists.
The interdisciplinary, convergent, and integrated research category ranking, on the other hand, was due to the “Development of Feature Extraction Techniques of Motor Imagery EEG Signal for Brain-Computer Interfaces”, which integrates engineering, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and rehabilitation medicine to develop assistive technology for persons with neuromuscular disorders.
These achievements reflect CHMSU’s Global Green University thrust — Good Governance, Research-Oriented, Extension-Driven, Education for Sustainable Development, and Nation-Building — and affirm the university’s growing stature as a leading innovation-driven state university in the Philippines and globally, the press release added. ||
