University moves up in latest global rankings

The excellent result sees us move from 45th place last year and maintain our second position in the national rankings.

“Our high quality research is the main reason for our continuing success in these prestigious rankings. It reflects our ongoing commitment to being a leading comprehensive, research-intensive university in Australia and the world,” University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence said.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Duncan Ivison said our Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Public Health and Clinical Medicine research excelled in this year’s rankings.

For example, ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Government and International Relations Professor Pippa Norris has led a global Electoral Integrity Project which has recently compared 241 parliamentary and presidential elections in 158 countries around the world.

“Not only has her team’s work resulted in a large number of high quality publications, but has also generated an enormous amount of media and public attention at a time when electoral systems are under increasing scrutiny around the world,” Professor Ivison said.

Another timely example is the recent report by Associate Professor Philip Alpers, from the School of Public Health, whose research findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that while gun deaths have declined since Australia’s gun reforms, no state or territory fully complies with the laws.

Established in 2014, the US News Best Global rankings use Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science database, formerly known as Thomson-Reuters, to rank the top 1,250 institutions globally (increased from 1,000 last year). Factors such as reputation, publications, books, conferences, international collaboration and citations are considered. 

Internationally Harvard University is the top ranked institution.