UQ moves up in world top 50 rankings

The University of Queensland has increased its standing in the QS World University Rankings for 2021, coming in at number 46 worldwide and taking out the top spot for Queensland once again.

UQ’s reputation as one of Australia’s most research-intensive universities boosted its performance in the rankings and is testament to the influence of UQ-led research globally.

This influence is exemplified by the Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine and most recently by the announcement of UQ, CSL and CEPI jointly committing to the development and supply of a COVID-19 vaccine.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj AC said the pleasing result showed the university continued to deliver on its vision, with several high-profile research projects already on-track to change the world.

“Seeing UQ increase its ranking for the second consecutive year, in the face of a highly competitive domestic and international market, demonstrates the strength and quality of the scientific research produced here at UQ and the changemakers behind these ideas,” Professor Høj said.

“Many thousands of scientific papers were published over the citation window under a tremendous spirit of collegiality between researchers, students and professional staff, who come together across the spectrum of academia to share these new ideas with the world.

“I know we are all proud to have seen Queenslanders at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic response, accelerating their research work to be there for the community in our time of need.

“UQ was one of a handful of institutions in the world tasked with finding a COVID-19 vaccine, but our efforts have spanned much further to transitioning teaching and learning activities online, providing valuable community resources and taking up advisory roles to help shape the public sector response.

“These results are the tangible effects of a university that can rise to meet the rapidly changing demands of society and deliver on its commitment to knowledge leadership for a better world.”

The QS World University Rankings for 2021 measure a university’s performance across a number of indicators including academic reputation, teaching quality and research output.

QS evaluated universities according to the following six indicators: academic reputation (40%), employer reputation (10%), faculty/student ratio (20%), citations per faculty (20%), international faculty ratio (5%), international student ratio (5%).

Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3364 1120.