Swinburne University of Technology has again been recognised for its research excellence, having been named as one of the world’s top 500 research universities for the third year in a row.
Announced this morning, the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) assesses the research output of higher education institutions throughout the world.
According to Vice-Chancellor Professor Linda Kristjanson, Swinburne’s position in the top 500 cements its place as an internationally recognised research-intensive university.
“We have been named as one of the top 500 research universities in the world for three consecutive years now. This proves the success of our ongoing strategy to commit to quality research focused on our core strengths,” she said.
Professor Kristjanson said that adding to the significance of the achievement was the fact that Swinburne has only been conducting research as a university for the past 19 years. The average age of a university in the ARWU is around 160 years.
“We are also the smallest Australian university and the only genuine dual-sector in the world to be ranked. This shows it is possible to provide high quality learning and teaching while striving for, and achieving, research excellence,” she said.
“Having recently invested over $250 million in research and infrastructure, we are able to support our researchers to find innovative solutions to real-world problems. This ensures that our institution delivers new knowledge that genuinely makes a difference to society.”
As well as receiving an overall ranking in the ARWU top 500, Swinburne was also named as one of the top 100 research universities in the world in the field of physics, an achievement lauded by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Andy Flitman.
“Advances in physics are at the very heart of developments that will influence the way we live in the 21st century. This diverse field includes research into climate change and data storage and helps us understand the very nature of the origins of our planet,” he said.
“At Swinburne we pride ourselves on the tangible difference our research makes to society, so we are extremely pleased to be ranked in the top 100 universities in the world in this important area.”
The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) was first published by the China-based Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2003. Since 2009 it has been compiled by an independent organisation, the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy.
Universities are assessed on a range of criteria including the number of: alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals; highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific; articles published in the journals Nature and Science; articles indexed in Science Citation Index – Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index; and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.
The complete rankings and detailed methodology can be found at the Academic Ranking of World Universities website.