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campusreview.com.au
Three Aussie unis
in top 50 MBAs list
University of Queensland a standout performer
in Economist’s latest MBA rankings.
T
he University of Queensland Business School has ranked
among the best in the word and taken out first place in
Australia for its Master of Business Administration program.
The latest Economist MBA rankings placed the University of
Queensland in the top spot across Australia and the Asia-Pacific,
and ranked its MBA course at 16th in the world.
Only three Australian universities placed in the world’s top 50
MBA programs in the ranking, which considers student feedback,
achievements and salaries for the three years after graduation.
The US holds the first 14 spots in the list, with France’s HEC
School of Management beating Australia to 15th place.
Other Australian universities to feature in the rankings include the
University of Melbourne Business School (27), and the Macquarie
Graduate School of Management (49).
There were no Australian universities in the top 50–100.
Australia’s regional competition included the University of
Hong Kong’s Faculty of Business and Economics (25), the
Nanyang Business School at Nanyang Technological University
in Singapore (78), Sun Yat-sen University Business School in
China (87), the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Business School (87) and the National University of Singapore
Business School (99).
The same three Australian universities were included in the
rankings last year.
UQ vice-chancellor and president Professor Peter Høj said he
was proud to see UQ’s full-time MBA program recognised as a
leader both in and outside Australia.
“Our strong performance in this highly respected ranking is
undoubtedly the result of the hard work and dedication of staff,
students and alumni, and we look forward to further growing and
shaping the program into the future,” he said.
“The fact that we did so well is particularly impressive given the
slide in the Australian dollar and the resources sector downturn.”
UQ’s MBA program also earned a five-star Graduate
Management Association of Australia rating for the 13th year
in a row. ■
Bang for research buck
Govt to assess university research
based on commercial potential.
Sarah Hanson-Young: “Code for cuts is
what this is.”
Simon Birmingham: “Sarah, you might love
esoteric little papers, but we actually think
that it is important that billions of taxpayer
dollars going into research delivers things
that are of benefit to taxpayers.”
T
his snarky exchange on ABC Radio
Adelaide between the education
minister and Greens senator was
4
actually about the government’s new
research metric, which will measure the
impact of university research on business.
Birmingham stressed the metric
won’t mean individual projects – like the
University of Melbourne’s ‘The fate of the
artisan in revolutionary China’ – will be
given the green or red funding light.
Rather, “it’s really about trying to create a
change in the incentive to the universities”.
He added that although our research
output is prolific compared to that of other
countries, we are “among the lowest in the
world for actually translating that research
into commercialisation”. Curiously, a June
2017 IP Australia report essentially found
the opposite.
But, whether the government’s approach
is heavy-handed or not, universities seem
okay, if not pleased with it.
Universities Australia welcomed it warmly,
noting that it incorporates sector feedback.
Its pilot trial was based on 300 submissions
from 39 universities.
Its chief executive Belinda Robinson
said the metric presents universities with
an opportunity to showcase their work to
the public.
“Many already know about university
inventions like Gardasil or spray-on skin,
but there are so many more gems that are
certain to be unearthed,” Robinson said.
Despite claims that some research, like
the above-mentioned Chinese artisan
project, doesn’t merit funding, she stressed
the fact that, due to the requirement for
peer review, “only the very best research
is funded”.
In 2014, Australian research was valued
at $160 billion – equal to almost a 10th of
the nation’s GDP.
Research from all universities will be
assessed starting next year. ■