The University of Queensland has been ranked as one of the world's top 50 universities for the ninth year in a row in the QS World University Rankings released today in Dublin.
With a world ranking of 46, UQ has improved its ranking by two places on 2011 in one of the three major international university rankings systems, operating since 2004.
It was ranked as one of the top four nationally and the top University in Queensland| in the QS rankings at www.topuniversities.com.
UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Debbie Terry congratulated UQ staff for upholding the institution’s outstanding global profile.
“It is a particular achievement to improve on a top 50 position, because there is strong overseas competition from ascendant university systems that are backed by considerable public investments,” Professor Terry said.
“The imperative for us is to continue working with our governments and deepening relationships with industry and philanthropy, in order to maintain excellent student and staff experiences and to increase our contributions to Queensland’s and Australia’s global competitiveness.”
Professor Terry noted that, in addition, UQ received “Five Stars Plus”, which QS said it attached to institutions whose “brand name will transform the resume of anyone connected with it”.
In the rankings, UQ was 42 in the world on academic reputation and 51 on reputation among employers.
Professor Terry said the rankings reaffirmed that UQ performed very strongly across all academic disciplines.
In the QS 2012 faculty area rankings, UQ’s results were:
• Arts & Humanities: 56 in 2012 (improved from 62 in 2011)
• Engineering & Technology: 55 (improved from 60)
• Life Sciences & Medicine: 32 (improved from 37)
In Social Sciences & Management, UQ’s rank this year was steady at 47 and Natural Sciences was 61 (compared to 58).
The QS World University Rankings currently considers more than 2000 universities, and evaluates more than 700 universities in the world, ranking the top 400.
UQ's score in the QS rankings was driven by six key aspects — academic reputation (40 per cent weighting); employer reputation (10 per cent), citations per faculty (20 percent), faculty student ratio (20 per cent), number of international students (5 per cent) and international faculty (5 per cent).
In the QS Stars rating system http://www.topuniversities.com/qsstars, The University of Queensland was awarded the highest rating of five stars plus, awarded to only 73 universities globally.
The QS Stars system involved a detailed audit considering over 50 indicators of university quality.
Universities were evaluated against eight criteria: research quality, teaching quality, graduate employability, infrastructure, internationalisation, innovation & knowledge transfer, third mission and specialist subject criteria. Each criterion has its own indicators, and weightings.
QS said that: “A typical five-star plus institution is not just world-class, but an elite destination to which the very best students and faculty worldwide will aspire.”
The latest rankings come on the heels of the prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) released last month at http://www.shanghairanking.com/index.html in which UQ was listed as one of the world's top 100 universities, with a world ranking of 90.
The 2012 edition of the International Handbook of Universities lists 15,000 higher education institutions in 183 countries, so UQ’s performance is very creditable.
If you would like to find out more about studying at UQ in 2013, the following events might be of interest:
• Undergraduate: Undergraduates wishing to study at UQ should apply to QTAC by September 28 – see http://www.youruq.com/qtac/. UQ will hold an Options evening for prospective students after they receive their OP or rank. It will be on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at the UQ Centre, Union Road, St Lucia campus at 4.30pm to 7pm http://www.uq.edu.au/schools/options-evening.
• Postgraduate: The University’s Postgraduate Advice Night will be held at the UQ Centre and Sir Llew Edwards building at the St Lucia campus tomorrow, Wednesday, September 12, from 4.30pm to 7.30pm. Details: youruq.com/postgrad
• International: Find out more about studying at UQ by meeting UQ representatives in your country in September and October or by visiting the UQ website — details at www.uq.edu.au/international.
Media: Jan King 0413 601 248
