Stunning leap for Deakin in international rankings

Deakin University has achieved a meteoric rise in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), announced today.

The University has rocketed up two tiers and almost 200 places since it first made the ARWU top 500 rankings in 2014.  It has moved into 214th place, a major step up from 398 in 2015, and 412 in 2014.

Deakin is now placed at 11th position in Australia.

The University is also now within the top two per cent of universities worldwide, according to every major international rankings organisation, including the QS World University Rankings and the “Times Higher Education” World University Rankings.

Deakin Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander said the rise in the rankings reflected the University’s commitment to creating an environment that encourages and enables cutting-edge research and academic excellence.

“Deakin is delighted with the news that it has moved into the 201-301 rank and we are humbled to be in such eminent company,” Professor den Hollander said.

“Deakin is committed to success in teaching and research, and this success shows that if you value staff and build a coherent and comprehensive strategy, the results will follow.

“To continue to move up the world rankings, as well as stepping up to placing 11th in Australia, is something that the entire University community can be proud of.

“Of particular note in this year’s ranking is recognition of a number of our researchers as leaders and innovators in their areas of expertise.”

Released by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, the ARWU is driven by research excellence, showcasing the top research universities in the world. More than 1200 universities are ranked by the ARWU every year, and the top 500 are published.

“This is a phenomenal result for Deakin and recognises our research as being at the highest level,” said Deakin’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Peter Hodgson.

“Congratulations to all those involved in research at Deakin. This achievement is further evidence that the work we are doing is taking Deakin University into the top tier of universities in the world.”

Today’s results in the ARWU continue a string of international rankings successes for Deakin in recent years. The University has rapidly climbed through the prestigious QS and “Times Higher Education” World University Rankings and is now ranked among the top 50 young universities in the world by both QS and “Times Higher Education” (2015/16 Under 50 Rankings).

Formerly known as the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking, the ARWU is a highly regarded index. It is based on independently sourced data and focuses on significant indicators of research excellence.

The ranking combines four criteria: quality of education, academic quality, research outputs and per capita performance. These are measured using six indicators for a given university:

• Alumni winning a Nobel Prize or a Fields Medal.
• Staff winning a Nobel Prize or a Fields Medal.
• Number of Highly Cited Researchers in 21 broad subject categories.
• Publications in “Nature” and “Science.”
• Publications indexed in Science Citation Index-expanded and Social Science Citation Index.
• Per capita academic performance of a university.

Further details can be found at the Academic Ranking of World Universities website.