The University of Queensland is Australia's top research institute in the 2020 CWTS Leiden Rankings for the third consecutive year, placing first nationwide and 31st in the world.
The hat trick performance is measured by the number of publications a university has in the top 1 per cent most cited in their field compared against more than 1000 major universities worldwide.
Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said the excellent results showed the breadth and quality of research output at the University.
"It is pleasing to see UQ maintain its strong performance in the Leiden Rankings for a third consecutive year and continue to deliver on its standing as one of the world's finest research institutes," Professor Høj said.
"The results in the latest 2020 CWTS Leiden Rankings demonstrate that UQ is upholding its mission of knowledge leadership for a better world and sends a clear message to potential partners looking to innovate during a time of great disruption that top-quality, highly cited research is produced across all disciplines at UQ.
"Our strong performance in the 'Life and Earth Sciences' and 'Social Sciences and Humanities' categories demonstrates UQ's commitment to developing new solutions for the most pressing issues in our society.
"UQ continues to pivot its research to meet the current challenges of the world today, whether that be developing a COVID-19 vaccine to aid the global pandemic, investing in solar technologies to combat climate change or fast tracking new antibiotics for drug-resistant bacteria."
UQ's research publications in 'Life and Earth Sciences' and 'Social Sciences and Humanities' were recognised by CWTS Leiden Rankings as the most cited in Australia for 2020.
Worldwide, UQ ranks 12th by publications (P) in the top 1 per cent & top 5 per cent, 11th (P top 10 per cent) and 10th (P top 50 per cent) Life and Earth Sciences. UQ ranks 43rd (P top 1 per cent), 32nd (P top 5 per cent), 29th (P top 10 per cent) and 17th (P top 50 per cent) in Social Sciences and Humanities.
UQ's number one positioning was calculated using fractional counting, ascertaining the number of university publications that, compared with other publications in the same field and in the same year, are in the top 1 per cent most frequently cited.
It follows UQ’s ranking as the global top 12 for its Massive Open Online Courses offering in the MoocLab's World University Rankings 2020.
Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3364 1120.
