James Cook University in 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities

James Cook University is one of only three Queensland universities to have made it into the Top 500 in the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities released today.

Nineteen Australian universities made the list, and James Cook University was ranked equal 10th in Australia behind the old established Group of Eight universities and Macquarie University.

The University of Queensland made it into the top 100 for the first time and Griffith University made it into the 401-500 grouping. JCU was ranked in the 301-400 group of world universities.

It is the third year in a row that JCU has made it into the top 400.

JCU Vice Chancellor Professor Sandra Harding said that the continued presence of the University among the world’s top institutions confirms its status as one of the leading academic and research institutions in the country.

“We are particularly proud of the fact that JCU with its major campuses in Cairns and Townsville is one of only three institutions among the Australians on the list outside a capital city,” she said.

“We are joined in equal 10th spot by the University of Newcastle while the other regional university, the University of Wollongong, is ranked equal 14-19. The remaining 16 Australian universities on the list are headquartered in the State capitals or Canberra.

“It is great that a regional university is sharing the status and prestige along with many much older, much bigger and more established universities,” Professor Harding said, “and it shows that a regional location is no bar to excellence.”

She said that JCU’s high ranking was a tribute to the academics and the level of research undertaken at the University.

“With the increase to 19 Australian institutions – up from 17 last year - listed in the Top 500, not only is tertiary education in this country of the highest order but also that it is not limited to the Group of Eight sandstone universities.”

Published today by the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the ARWU has been recognized as the precursor of global university rankings and the most trustworthy list.

ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.

More than 1000 universities are actually ranked by ARWU every year and the best 500 are published.

First published in 2003 by the Center for World-Class Universities and the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, and updated on an annual basis, the rankings since since 2009 have been published by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, a fully independent organization.

Quelle: www.jcu.edu.sg/Home/News/tabid/84/SuperStructureID/350/Default.aspx vom 05.10. 2011