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campusreview.com.au
36 ranked universities achieving a ranking
in 20 or more of our subject tables, we also
see that Australia’s universities are able to
provide world-leading education across
disciplinary boundaries.”
AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES IN THE
TOP 10 BY SUBJECT
Rankings slide
for Aussie unis
QS rankings show slight decline
for Australian universities.
By Wade Zaglas
T
he 10th edition of the Quacquarelli
Symonds (QS) World University
Rankings by Subject shows a
10 per cent decrease in the number of
Australian university programs achieving
a top 20 ranking for their subject, dipping
from 68 to 61.
The QS dataset also recorded a decrease
in the number of Australian programs
achieving top 50, 100 and 200 positions
in their respective subjects.
In determining the rankings, QS
considered 13,138 university programs
at 1368 universities globally. Forty-eight
subjects were then ranked, spanning
five broad faculties: arts and humanities,
engineering and technology, life sciences
and medicine, natural sciences, and social
sciences and management.
The University of Melbourne is Australia’s
leading institution, with 17 of its programs
ranked among the top 20 globally for their
subject. The Australian National University
ranked 7th (12 top 50 places), followed by
the University of Sydney (11 top 50 places).
QS head of research Ben Sowter said:
“Despite a slightly challenging year for
Australia’s universities, this year’s QS World
University Rankings by Subject results still
illuminate – through numerous lenses – the
enduring excellence of the Australian higher
education system.
“Though we observe some backsliding,
only two national sectors – those in the
US and UK – possess more top-ranked
university programs than Australia, and
this seems unlikely to change in the near
future. Furthermore, with 18 of Australia’s
Ten Australian universities were placed in the
top 10 by subject for 2020. These were:
• ANU: Earth and marine sciences (9),
philosophy (7), anthropology (=4), politics
and international studies (8), geography (6)
and sociology (9)
• Curtin: Engineering – mineral/mining (2)
• Deakin: Sports-related subjects (9)
• Monash: Pharmacy/pharmacology (2) and
Engineering – mineral/mining (7)
• University of Melbourne – Law (10)
• UNSW: Engineering – mineral/mining (4)
• UQ: Sports-related subjects (3),
engineering – mineral/mining (5)
• University of Sydney: sports-related
subjects (4)
• University of WA: Engineering – mineral
and mining (3)
• UTS: Nursing (7).
TOP 100 AUSTRALIAN PERFORMERS
BY FACULTY AREA
Arts and Humanities
ANU and the University of Melbourne
were Australia’s top-ranked institutions in
this faculty, coming in at equal 16th. Other
top 50 performers were the University of
Sydney (22), UNSW (=42) and Monash (48).
The other top 100 Australian university in this
faculty was the University of Queensland (85).
Engineering and Technology
Australian universities did not perform so
highly in this category, with the highest
ranked being UNSW (37). The only other top
50 Australian university was the University
of Melbourne (=41). Monash secured a top
100 spot at 54, followed by the University of
Sydney (=61), ANU (71), and the University of
Queensland (=76).
Life Sciences and Medicine
Australia had four universities in the top 50
for life sciences and medicine. These were
the University of Melbourne (=22), University
of Sydney (24), University of Queensland
(37) and Monash (39). Other Australian
universities to gain a top 100 ranking in this
faculty were UNSW (68), the University of
Adelaide (91) and University of Western
Australia (=92).
Natural Sciences
Seven Australian universities ranked in
the top 100 for natural sciences, with our
highest-ranked university being ANU (=37).
The University of Melbourne (46) and
University of Sydney (=49) scraped into the
top 50, while UNSW (75), Monash (89), the
University of Queensland (91) and University
of Adelaide (=96) rounded off the list.
Social Sciences and Management
Australian universities performed very well in
this category, with six institutions landing a
top 50 position. The University of Melbourne
ranked in the top 20 (17), followed by the
University of Sydney (=25), ANU (=29),
UNSW (34), Monash (=39) and University
of Queensland (UQ). No other Australian
university featured in the top 100.
INTERNATIONAL RESULTS
AND TRENDS
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
took out top honours in 12 subjects. MIT was
closely followed by Harvard, which ranked
number one in 11 subjects, and Oxford –
leading the way in eight subjects.
A number of key trends were evident this
year, including the continued “regression” of
US universities. For instance, between 2018
and 2020, American universities ranked in
the top 50 for their subject decreased from
806 in 2018 to 769 in 2020. Also, there
were decreases in the number of top 10,
top 100 and top 200 programs offered by
US universities.
In contrast, UK universities are
experiencing “overall year-on-year
improvement, with more rises (306) than
drops (238)”.
China’s universities are continuing to
perform well, with 100 institutions
securing top 50 rankings. However,
QS advises that “its universities’ rate of
improvement is slowing”.
Asia’s best-performing university is the
National University of Singapore; eight of its
programs rank among the top 10 globally.
Russian and Indian universities are also
improving, with increases in both top 50 and
top 100 programs.
“After five years of relentless improvement,
our dataset has illuminated a slowdown
in Chinese progress. However, their
trajectory is still superior to that of American
universities. We also find that Brexit does
not yet appear to have jeopardised the
research performance of British universities,”
Sowter said. ■
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